


The Other Side

by OolongTeacup



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Overlord - Maruyama Kugane & Related Fandoms, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Anger Management, Angst, Blood and Violence, Crossover, Dragons, Eventual Romance, F/M, Family Feels, Genocide, Implied/Referenced Torture, Marriage of Convenience, Minor Character Death, Nudity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-01-06 05:41:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 94,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21221504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OolongTeacup/pseuds/OolongTeacup
Summary: A living dead, an undead king, and a woman with the soul of a dragon.  Who's the real monster?





	1. Ch1 - Stars, Guards, and a Bowl of Hot Soup

**Author's Note:**

> My first work posted on this site! Thank you so much for reading, whoever you are, I hope you have as much fun reading as I did making it! This story is a just for fun kind of thing, and I'm open to suggestions and critique. Please leave a comment if you see something you like, or something you think I can improve on!
> 
> (I'd like to post long chapters, so please expect updates every other week or so. Thanks for understanding!)

Ch1 - Stars, Guards, and a Bowl of Hot Soup

The undead horse, a creature made entirely of bones and dark purple smoke, daintly picked it's way through the tall grass. The horse's riders, a tall elf woman in demonic black and red armor and a short skeleton dressed in flowing robes of dark blue, had not given it any direction to head in. So, left to its own devices, the undead horse named Arvak wandered onto the plains.

The elf woman looked over her shoulder to the forest behind her. Beyond that, the peaks of the mountains bit at the horizon and, just barely visible, the stone walls of the city of Solitude nestled among the peaks beneath the star-lit sky. It had come as a bit of a shock to her, when midnight had passed and the download completed, she had left the city to find it relocated into a strange mountain range. Norah did not worry for long; things like this must be the result of merging the games. She figured that such a large DLC of data from Yygdrasil was bound to affect Skyrim in strange ways. Rather than scaring her, these changes excited Norah.

Take for instance, her follower. Sans the skeleton had also come from a different game - her first successful transfer of data and creation of a modded npc. The skeleton in question had been her faithful companion for the thousands of hours she poured into Skyrim. Norah thought she knew everything about him; his code, skills, moves, stats… she even wrote a backstory and personality for his new role as her companion (although that part was a little fuzzy), so when he started to act outside of his basic programming it thrilled her. Back in Solitude, Norah didn't know at first if him holding his hand out to her to take a seat aboard Arvak was a glitch or not. Now that they were riding peacefully through the tall grass, and the short skeleton sat in front of her, his skull turning as he looked around in wonder at the world around him, Norah felt herself smile. 

"Hey Be'nseree, where are we heading?" Sans asked in a surprisingly deep voice, the soft white lights in his eye sockets focusing on the Daedric helm the elf wore. Norah felt herself jump a little on Arvak's back, her gauntleted hands slipping slightly with the reigns. Sans never had any voiced lines recorded, so he had never spoken before. Was this another surprise add on from Yggdrasil?

"I'm… not sure." Be'nseree the high elf said with a voice like wind chimes, removing her horned black helm. The voice of Norah's character also surprised her, and she contemplated the sky and its lack of two moons. A breeze caught her long, rose red hair and the elf carefully brushed it out of her onyx black eyes. "It's like a new world, and I want to explore a bit." Such sensation, this world had. Norah knew that DMMORPGs were much more realistic than her favorite, albeit outdated, game was by far, but everything was so  _ real _ . She could smell the grass getting crushed under Arvak's hooves, feel the cool night air…

"Most people sleep at night, you know." Sans looked out again over the plains and leaned his back against Be'nseree's breastplate. "There's a nice warm bed back at your house. I'd rather have that than camp out."

"You're… tired?" Norah contemplated this. In Skyrim, she had various mods added long before the Yygdrasil DLC to expand gameplay; Survival Mode being one of them. However, Sans had never been affected by it as far as she knew. Another realistic addition to the game? Perhaps she should turn it off for now. Sleep, hunger, and warmth would be troublesome necessities if she wanted to explore the new world unimpeded.

"Not really," Sans shrugged. "I just felt like making conversation."

Be'nseree put the Daedric helm back on her head to free up one of her hands. Gripping Arvak's reigns tightly with the other, she lifted up a gauntleted finger and jabbed at the air to open her menu.

Nothing happened.

She tried again, still nothing.

_ ...what the hell? _

"...eh, Beans?" Sans turned his skull, watching the elf jab repeatedly at the air with her finger. "What are you doing?"

"My menu won't open!" Norah felt, for the first time since midnight, panic beginning to bubble in her stomach. "I can't access settings, or mods… or even my world map! What the hell!?"

Be'nseree slipped off Arvak, fear gripping her and sending adrenaline rushing through her blood. It made her want to fight something, to Shout at the sky in an attempt to find reason.

Drawing her serrated, Daedric sword, Be'nseree gave it a few practice swings at the air. With her open hand, she summoned magic to it and cast a bolt of lightning into the sky. Turning away from Sans and Arvak, she shouted at the plains.

"Fus roh DAH!" The words broke the air like a thunderclap, flattening the grass and tossing clods of dirt far away until they vanished into the night. Arvak reared, startled by the noise. Sans pulled back on the reigns, patting the undead horse's spine until it calmed.

"No need to Shout about it, whatever it is." Sans chuckled at his weak pun, a tinkle of notes reminiscent of his Undertale days. Be'nseree fell to her knees and tried to breathe deeply, to calm her shaking hands. 

It was just a game, but she couldn't get out. She couldn't save, or get home, or… or what?

Was it really so bad, this world? Norah had spent all of her life living for her game. Even work was just a way to have money to buy the latest gaming equipment or to take classes on coding.

If something happened with the Yygdrasil download… it was supposed to go offline at midnight anyway. What was the harm, Norah thought, in trying to take code they were just going to throw away? Was this a bug? Was the amount of data just too much to add to the original game?

"Sans, hit me." Be'nseree said, standing and spinning to face the skeleton. The lights in his eyes widened and Arvak took a step back.

"Did you go crazy on me?" Sans asked in disbelief.

"I need to check something, just hit me!" Be'nseree sheathed her sword at her side and dispelled the magic in her left hand. Sans watched her spread her arms wide, ready for whatever he threw at her. Hesitating for more than a moment, Sans summoned a bone with his blue magic and whacked Be'nseree hard upside the head.

The blow stunned her momentarily, and the tall elf stumbled. It hurt. It hurt, and pain meant this wasn't a dream. Somehow, this was the real world now. That fact strangely calmed Be'nseree almost instantly.

"Thank you, Sans." Be'nseree took off her helm and rubbed one of her long, pointed ears with the knuckle of her clawed gauntlets. "I just panicked for a moment, is all."

Sans nodded slowly, not taking the lights of his eyes off her. His wariness made Be'nseree search for an explanation that would make sense to him.

"I-it's the full moon, you know?" Be'nseree pointed up at the singular orb hanging amongst the thousand stars. "My beast blood kind of makes me a little crazy at times… that's why I didn't want to be in the city."

"That… makes sense." Sans said carefully, looking up at the moon in the sky. "Kind of weird there isn't two of them, you know?"

"I don't know if we're in Tamriel anymore." Be'nseree looked out over the plains, searching the darkness for any kind of recognizable landmark. Seeing only grassland, a thin strip of far forest, and the mountains in the distance, Be'nseree threw herself onto the grass and let her helm roll off to the side. As she stared up at the stars, she heard Sans dismount Arvak and lie down next to her.

"I'd still prefer an actual bed," his low voice said, "but at least the sky is nice. There was never anything like this in the Underground."

The two of them gazed in silence, until even Arvak laid down in the grass to rest. In this moment of quiet, Norah wanted to voice something she never had before, in her old life or in game.

"I'm glad," she began slowly, trying to find the right words, "that even though it seems the whole world has changed, that you're still here, Sans. Even if you never really spoke much before -"

"You mean at all?" Sans chuckled. Be'nseree elbowed him.

"Look, I'm glad you're here, all right? You've always been there. You're my best friend." Norah felt her elfin cheeks flush and turned her face so Sans wouldn't see.  _ Even if you were just a program… Is it weird for me to be so attached? I didn't have real friends. You never said a word, but I always talked to you. Do you remember any of that? _

"You sure you're feeling all right, Beans?" Sans propped himself on his elbow, watching her. "You've never been this sentimental."

"R-really?"

"Hey," Sans sat up and poked Be'nseree on the nose, "Don't look so glum, buddy. Remember that one time we killed those bandits and that one guy's corpse chased us across the ground, yelling those lame insults at us?"

Despite herself, Be'nseree chuckled. Even with her best coding efforts, the game still had a ton of glitches, and they had never failed to crack her up. That, and it was clear Sans  _ did _ remember their time together, and that made her happy. "I guess he wouldn't take our antics  _ lying down!" _

"More like he wouldn't  _ stand for it!"  _ Sans burst out laughing, his ever present smile widening as the two of them laughed themselves silly. When their giggles died down, Sans said through his grin, "I hope you're prepared, cuz I remember every joke I ever wanted to tell you, and you're gonna hear every one of 'em."

"I'm looking forward to it." Be'nseree smiled, watching a pair of shadows, bats?, fly in front of the moon. "How about we sleep out here tonight, and then we can explore the area tomorrow? We can draw up a map or something, and you can tell me every pun you've got."

"Deal!" Sans flopped onto the grass and looked at the moon, too. Spotting the shadows, he whispered at Be'nseree, "It'll drive you  _ batty." _

~~~

Ohdaviing beat his mighty wings, carrying himself and his passengers around a particularly wet-looking cloud and into a ray of sunshine that warmed his scales. It irritated him slightly to have a second body to carry, but it was what the Dovahkin wished. He had sworn himself to her might, so he obeyed. She called in the morning, and he came. She wanted to fly, and he would lift her with his wings.

"The mountains would be a good central point," Be'nseree shouted over the wind, pulling Sans closer to her body with one arm and gripping a back spike tightly with the other as Ohdaviing tilted sharply to avoid a flock of geese. "It looks like there's just open wilds, unless you count that building in the hills, or that city on the far edge of the plains."

"Don't forget that village we passed to the Southwest, near the forests edge," Sans shouted back, gripping onto Be'nseree for dear life. Ohdaviing dove towards the ground, causing Sans to yelp in surprise and fear. The dragon chuckled sadistically. Sans cleared the lump in his throat and asked, "What if they have a map?"

"If it's a Yygdrasil village, maybe." Be'nseree reached out with her armored foot and nudged Ohdaviing's front leg, indicating she wanted him to head Southwest. "Can't hurt to see. If it's a Skyrim settlement, we can check in on them and let them know that Solitude is nearby."

"Dovahkin," Ohdaviing's rough voice vibrated the pebbly skin beneath them, "I can also fly around and see the lands, then gift you the knowledge of what I see."

"You can do that??" Be'nseree shouted in disbelief. Something like that happened before in game, but that was only for Words. 

"What's the catch?" Sans asked, earning an angry growl from Ohdaviing in response. 

"I swore my services to the Eater of Souls, and will make myself useful to keep her favor." Ohdaviing circled the village below, watching the flashes of light from magic spells being cast. He grumbled simply after a time of silence, "There is much more freedom in her service than was under Alduin. I am not sorry that he perished."

"Well, I appreciate that," Be'nseree felt herself go red, despite being unsure if Ohdaviing's words were a compliment, "but if you can gift me knowledge, then letting you fly as you wish would be a good idea. You can see if any other dragons we know are here."

"You wish to gather the Dovah to you?" Ohdaviing looked over his back; one large, cat-like eye focused on Be'nseree. 

"Well, sure. Keep your friends close, right?"

"It shall be done, Dovahkin." 

Feeling like she had a plan of action forming, Be'nseree added, "Can you drop us off near Solitude? I need to grab a roll of paper and ink from home for the map and have a talk with the Jarl about allowing dragons near the city. Do you think you can avoid attacking humans in the meantime, Ohdaviing? Otherwise, they won't have much incentive to keep their arrows to themselves. "

"As you wish." Ohdaviing flapped his wings to climb higher into the sky beyond the clouds.

"And skeletons!" Sans piped up. Be'nseree nodded in agreement, and Ohdaviing reluctantly accepted.

"Of course, if they attack first, I shall not hesitate to burn them to ash." Ohdaviing growled, tilting his wings North to glide towards the mountains and stone walls of Solitude.

The plains rushed beneath them in a blur, an undulating sea of wind and grass. The trees of the forest waved at them in the wake of Ohdaviing's wings. Be'nseree tilted her head toward the sun, relishing the feeling of flight; of wind seeming through the gaps in her helm to tickle her face. How she envied a dragon's wings, that they could feel this free any moment they wished. It was all too soon that Ohdaviing landed amongst the mountainside, his giant feet slipping on loose slate and stone and sending it tumbling off a nearby cliff.

"I will bring you no closer than this," the dragon said, turning his massive head to watch the pair slide inelegantly from his back. "If I approach any closer, the humans will attack."

"Thanks, Ohdaviing. We appreciate the ride." Be'nseree adjusted her Daedric armor to sit a bit more comfortably for the walk ahead of them. She eyed his wings enviously, and the dragon did not miss her gaze. His lip curled over his teeth in a frightening smile.

"Oh yeah, it's only a couple of miles," Sans complained, stretching the bones in his arms as he looked at the sheer mountain path. 

"I can summon Arvak again," Be'nseree offered, following the lights in Sans' eye sockets. "He has no problem climbing mountains."

"If you mean the undead horse, he has been following us this entire time." Ohdaviing turned to look at the stretch of planes dozens of miles beneath them.

"He has?" Be'nseree squinted, but try as she might she could not spot the skeletal horse.  _ I was sure that, as a summoned creature, he would disappear after awhile. Does that mean I can't summon him again? _ Seeking to test this, she focused the summoning magic in her left hand and released a whirlwind of amethyst colored light. Arvak cantered through it to them, tossing the dark purple smoke of his mane in joy of seeing them again. Be'nseree held her hands up to greet him. Stroking his skull she said, "I'm sorry we left you behind, buddy. It won't happen again."

With a promise to meet again soon, Ohdaviing spread his wings and soared off West, roaring his farewell. Once again on Arvak's back, Be'nseree and Sans headed up the mountains towards the stone walled city.

"When we get back," Sans said from his seat in front of Be'nseree, "We should get something to eat. I'd like a burger with a biiig bottle of ketchup. Maybe a nap, too."

"Eh, I don't think the Winking Skeever has burgers or ketchup." Be'nseree said. Sans gasped loudly in offence, and she quickly added, "But I can make those! We'll just have to check what I have stocked up at home!"

"You… can make ketchup?" Sans asked in disbelief, the lights in his sockets widening as he gazed at her.

"I think so. It's tomatoes and... vinegar, maybe?" It couldn't be that hard, Be'nseree reasoned. It's just a simple condiment.

"...I love you."

"What's that?"

"Eh, you'll have to." Sans said quickly, focusing again on the path before them. Though Be'nseree was steering, Arvak climbed what looked like impossibly sheer rocks and difficult terrain with ease. Looking for a change in subject, Sans commented on this. 

"Of course!" Be'nseree laughed. "The horses of Skyrim are great mountain climbers. More so than any goat I've ever seen. You were there when we went down the mountain yesterday, right?"

"Well, yeah, but we took a different path." Sans nervously eyed the edge of a cliff they came uncomfortably close to so they could skirt around a pocket of loose stone. "Do you think the people in Solitude are gonna be able to find their way down?"

With the walls of Solitude in sight, Be'nseree said, "We'll have to see," before guiding Arvak through the main archways and up to the huge wooden doors of the entrance. Half a dozen guards scurried across the top of the archway to watch them pass.

A pair of guards were stationed at the doorway, like Be'nseree had always known them to be, but rather than standing almost at attention on either side of the gate, the two guards huddled together and whispered behind their hands at her approach. Not thinking anything of it, Be'nseree dismounted Arvak and was just helping Sans do the same when one of the guards approached her with his hand on his sword.

"You're the Dragonborn?" The guard asked in a smooth imperial accent. 

"Who else would I be?" Be'nseree guided Arvak to a small grassy area, whispering reassurances that they would be back for him, before turning to the gates. The guards stepped forward, blocking her path, their handing tightening on their swords and their shields raised ever so slightly. Slightly offended, Be'nseree said with a slight growl in her normally sweet voice, "I really hope you don't plan on attacking me or my friends."

"We've been ordered by the Jarl to bring you to the Blue Palace." One of the guards claimed boldly, holding his head high with pride. "You're wanted for questioning."

"Alright, I'll stop by later. I was planning on it anyways." Be'nseree went to step around the guards, only to be cut off again.

"We mean now, Dragonborn. The Jarl waits for no one." The other guard reached out to grab her arm, but his hand was twisted away by blue magic.

Sans stood behind Be'nseree, his left socket aflame with the same blue magic that enveloped his hand and the guard's. With a voice both low and cold, Sans smiled and said, "She has a name, you know. And you're being awfully rude to someone who's saved your skins from dragons and vampires and who knows what else."

"Keep your skeleton quiet, Dragonborn." The guard who wasn't held by Sans' magic spat with disgust. "You're lucky we don't arrest you anyway for your shameless necromancy."

"Hey, easy, everyone!" Be'nseree held up her clawed gauntlets, hoping to calm the guards. Instead they drew their swords. Sans twisted the wrist the one guard. His sword clattered to the ground as the man whimpered in pain. Bowstrings tightened on the archway behind them. The half dozen other guards waited for any sign of further hostility before loosing their arrows.

"Enough!" Be'nseree shouted, an echo of thunder behind her word. Sans released his magic hold on the guard, who quickly stepped behind the protection of his companion's sword. Taking a tentative step towards them, Be'nseree said gently, "Look, guys, I don't want a fight here. Elisif wants to see me? Fine. I'll go."

"That's more like it." The guard with the raised sword scoffed. Sheathing his blade, he pushed at the large wooden gate and gestured for Be'nseree to follow. The other guard stayed behind, nursing his twisted wrist and watching them warily until the gate snapped shut.

Solitude was never a crowded city, but it was definitely lively on most days. Most days, vendors hawked their wares, sellswords hung outside of the tavern looking for work, or people simply came and went to various areas on their morning routines. Today, however, there was hardly anyone on the streets. Even the beggars were nowhere to be seen. Be'nseree could only see guards and imperial soldiers dotted here and there on the streets; their bodies tense, hands resting on their weapons.

As the guard lead them through the streets, Be'nseree could see the faces of the other inhabitants peaking at her from behind curtains in their windows. Passing Proudspire Manor, Be'nseree felt her heart leap into her throat. Was her adopted family in there? Were they angry at her too, like the guards? 

The guard escorting her didn't seem likely to answer any other her questions, so Be'nseree walked on, her boots clinking slightly on the stone streets. Sans patted her elbow reassuringly, the highest point his short stature could reach on her tall frame without being lewd. Behind her closed helm, Be'nseree smiled. At least she had her friend.

The Blue Palace loomed before them, it's azure roof sparkling under the high sun. More guards and soldiers filled the courtyard, parting as they passed. Many of them glared, a few look frightened. One even spat in the dirt at the sight of them. Some joined their escort into the palace, following at a distance.

The usual maids were missing from the interior of the palace, replaced with imperial soldiers. Even the normal court faces were missing from beside the Jarl's throne. The only ones who stood by Elisif's side were General Tullius, the leader of the imperial army, and Falk Firebeard, Elisif's personal housecarl and advisor. 

"Dragonborn," Elisif leaned forward in her throne as Be'nseree and Sans approached. "It is about time you arrived before me."

"Yeah, something is obviously going on." Be'nseree looked around at the room full of armed men. "Want to fill me in?"

General Tullius glared. "You are being put under arrest, Dragonborn. For crimes against the city and her people."

"What?" Be'nseree cried out in disbelief as the men in the courtroom gripped their weapons. "What do you mean, I'm under arrest? For what?"

"Must we really explain?" General Tullius sighed irritably. Jarl Elisif looked between him and Be'nseree warily.

"Well, yeah!" Be'nseree pulled off her helmet, her pale face twisted in surprise and anger. Beside her, Sans slid a hair closer, guarding her back from the men behind them. "What the hell have I done to you guys?"

Tullius stared at Be'nseree, seemingly taken aback by her appearance. Composing himself, he stated, "You're a violent individual, a known Daedra worshipper, and a necromancer." General Tullius brushed nonexistent dust off his steel armor, his voice gaining strength. "The people of Skyrim have tolerated you, as you are Dragonborn and we do remember your actions against Alduin, but the entire city is in a panic! These mountains are foreign, a moon is gone from the sky, and whenever strange things like this happen, you are usually the one behind it!"

"General, we did not agree to arrest her." Jarl Elisif said firmly, smoothing the wrinkles in her dark green dress. "While I am also worried about recent events, the Dragonborn has also proven herself to be an ally of my people."

"If you're talking about how the city got moved to these strange mountains," Be'nseree lied, hoping her levelled speechcraft would be enough, "I have no idea how we got here."

"Of course you would say that!" General Tullius spat, his face reddening beneath the graying stubble on his chin. "It's awfully suspicious that you would sneak out of the city, in the dead of night, just as a catastrophe like this happened!"

"General, calm yourself!" Jarl Elisif shouted, turning pink. "I will not have you disrespecting my Thane, or myself by speaking in such a way for me! Do not make me say so again!"

"M-my lady, surely you cannot think that she is completely innocent!"

"The Dragonborn indeed left at a strange hour," Falk spoke up, surprising both Tullius and Elisif, "but that is not uncommon behavior for her. We have brought her here for questioning, so shouldn't we ask what caused her to leave in the dead of night?"

The room looked at Be'nseree, waiting with baited breath. She glanced at Sans, who nodded encouragement.

"Look, I can tell you're all worried about how Solitude came to this new place." Be'nseree held her helm in her hands, to give them something to do. "I promise, though, I'm trying to help. I saw the single moon in the sky, I left to find out why. I saw the strange land, and I explored. I can tell you what's in every direction for miles-"

"And how could you cover so much distance?" General Tullius snapped. A glare from Jarl Elisif silenced him from further comment. With a nod, Elisif motioned for Be'nseree to continue.

"I rode on the back of a dragon to see the surrounding lands." Be'nseree said, sparking murmurs in the soldiers surrounding them. "He is a good dragon! His name is Ohdaviing, he's offered to help-"

"A good dragon? There is no such thing!" The General laughed bitterly, to approving nods from many around them.

"I admit, a dragon helping men is hard to believe." Jarl Elisif lifted a manicured finger to her mouth, her brow furrowed in thought.

"It's true!" Be'nseree pressed, determined not to let them think they should attack Ohdaviing when he returned. "He promised me he would not attack humans if you allowed him near the city, and he is scouting further out so I can make a map. He'll share everything he discovers with me, and we need to know what else is in these lands!"

"I admit, that information would be useful." Jarl Elisif nodded. She motioned to Falk to grab supplies from a shelf as she asked, "Could you draw out what you know so far?"

"My Lady, surely you don't trust this woman!" General Tullius stared, taken aback that Elisif would beckon the elf and skeleton to a nearby table to discuss matters.

"Tullius, you have always advised me in many things, and I appreciate your wisdom." Jarl Elisif approached him with her head held high, exuding confidence. "And I need your help now, but we also need the help of the Dragonborn. Do you trust my judgement?"

"I… of course, my Lady."

"Then help me protect my people. I need to know what is immediately beyond the walls of Solitude in these mountains. Safe paths, lairs of monsters, even sources for fresh water or food will be vital as we move forward. Can I trust you to do this?" Jarl Elisif eyed the General shrewdly as he nodded. "Then lead your men outside to scout the area. Have them all return safely, and we can discuss what the Dragonborn has shown me. We'll have another council, tonight, to plan our next actions. Agreed?"

"As you wish, my Lady." General Tullius bowed and, with a final glare at Be'nseree, left the throne room with his men.

Once the room cleared, Elisif sighed and returned to the table that the others were now gathered around. Falk smoothed out a roll of thick paper, weighing the edges with an inkwell and smooth river stones. 

"Please don't be offended, Dragonborn." Jarl Elisif ran her fingers through her brown, shoulder length hair. "All of our nerves are stretched thin. Falk and I know you're reliable, but Tullius…"

"Tullius is still upset that you handed over his hard won battle camps to the Stormcloaks." Falk chuckled.

"It's not like there wasn't a fair trade." Sans piped up, feeling like it was safe to talk without provoking anyone. Elisif and Falk stared at him in disbelief. "Peace had to be reached so she could fight Alduin. She didn't take one side or the other."

"Your skeleton talks?" Elisif asked, curious, but regardless she moved so that the table was between her and the blue robed skeleton.

"He's a good friend, who cares what he is?" Be'nseree rolled her black eyes, dipping a quill into the ink and making broad marks onto the paper to mark the mountain range. "And yes, he talks. He's not a mindless draugr."

"We have names, too," Sans leaned his elbows onto the table to watch the two humans watch them. "She's Beans and I'm Sans."

"Beans?" Falk shook his head, smiling. "You're full of surprises, Dragon- eh, Beans. I thought having the Argonian arrive to live in your home was shocking enough but… riding dragons? And you're an elf! I always knew you were a woman, but I never would have guessed…"

"What Falk means," Jarl Elisif said gently as Be'nseree jabbed the paper with the quill, poking a hole in it, "Is that we're happy that you're here to assist the people of Solitude once again."

"Yeah, well, I've got a lot invested in this place." Be'nseree sighed, finally cooling off. She never expected for General Tullius to be so hostile towards her. At least the hours she poured into the quests in the city had Elisif and Falk friendly towards her. "Sans, do you remember if that building was here in the plains?"

"Nah, it was in the hills." Sans dipped his finger bone in the ink and scratched a circle in the middle of the waves Be'nseree had meant to be the hills. They murmured to each other under their breath, fact checking locations and adding details to the others work that one of them had forgotten.

"So, if you're an elf," Jarl Elisif slowly asked, not wanting to interrupt, "Does that mean you're with the Thalmor?"

"Just cuz I'm a high elf doesn't mean I'm a Thalmor agent." Be'nseree said gently, and Elisif noticeably relaxed. "I never took a side in the civil war, remember?"

"Good, I never liked those elves very much." Elisif wandered towards a silver tray near her throne and selected a sweet roll to pick apart with her nails. Sans looked up from the parchment, hopeful. "Beans, I know that your abilities and range for scouting exceed Tullius' forces by far, but I ask that you remain in Solitude for the rest of the day once we have finished here, and a few days after. Let me have a chance to smooth his ruffled feathers before you antagonize him more."

"I didn't do anything!" Be'nseree clenched the quill tightly, snapping it in half.

"You are a power greater than him, and one we need to keep Solitude safe. That is enough to frustrate him, but compound that with your unwillingness to help him in the war…" Jarl Elisif chewed on a piece of sweet roll thoughtfully. "I need both of you, Beans. I would like to think that I've taken up the ruler's mantle well since my husband's passing. Let me do what I do best."

_ That's fine. I never wanted to rule anything. _ Be'nseree thought, returning to her mapwork with Sans.  _ I just want to see this new world. That's one hell of a quest, Elisif. 'Stay in your house?'  _

"Eh, Beans? Your poking holes in the map again." Sans whispered, the lights in his eyes focused on her. Behind them, Falk and Elisif discussed rationing the food in the city until a new source could be found.

"Sorry, I just…" Be'nseree bit her lip, staring at the map. "I'm not gonna sit in my house and wait for Elisif to tell me what to do. I want to explore. What do you think?"

Sans' grin turned mischevious. "Dungeon crawl?"

"You read my mind." Be'nseree winked at him. Pointing to the small circle he drew, she said in hushed tones, "That building in the hills looks like a good place to start. Let's get this map done, stop by the house, and grab supplies. We can leave just after night fall."

"What, no nap?" Sans looked a little crestfallen.

"I'll get our gear ready. You can sleep in my bed until after the meeting. I should probably go to that, or they'll look for us right away. We'll have to come back here at some point, so I don't wanna piss Elisif off." With a nod from Sans, Be'nseree turned to Elisif and Falk. "The map is a done as it'll get until I see Ohdaviing again. Mind if I head home?"

"Of course, Dra- eh, Beans. Thank you again for your assistance. I trust you'll explain it in detail in the meeting tonight?" Jarl Elisif beamed at them as Be'nseree nodded. She and Falk bent over the map to examine it while Sans lead the way out.

Outside the palace, the courtyard had emptied of all the soldiers, though guards did remain around the city on patrols. Word must have gotten out about them via General Tullius, as the guards did not bother them, although their hands came to rest on their weapons as Be'nseree and Sans passed.

"Jeez, you'd think we killed somebody." Sans rolled his eye lights.

"Or maybe someone stole their sweet roll?" Be'nseree giggled, opening the basement door to let Sans inside Proudspire Manor.

The smell of herbs washed over them in a flood of warmth from the fire near the alchemy table, it's light dancing on the stone walls of the basement. Shelves glittered with rare alchemical ingredients and armor on pair of mannequins winked at them from the far side of the hall. The door to the storeroom creaked in the wind as Be'nseree shut the door leading to the street, showing her a glimpse of a messed bedroll on the floor. Making her way to the end of the hall past the enchanting table, Be'nseree opened a lid on barrel nearest the weapon racks, ignoring the glowing staffs, axes, and blades in favor of the soul gems concealed near them. 

"That's not your bed, right?" Sans asked, peaking into the storeroom at the sad looking bedroll.

"Of course not." Be'nseree said, examining a grand soul gem before depositing it in her inventory space. "Third floor, second door on the left."

"Right. You know where to find me." Sans climbed the stone staircase and out of sight.

Be'nseree returned to the barrel, pulling out more soul gems. How many times would she have to recharge her sword? Would it be better if she just brought the Black Star, and refilled it as she needed? What about potions? A list of things she might need battled at the forefront of her thoughts. So much so that she didn't hear anyone approach her.

"Momma, you're home!" A small voice squeaked in happiness, tackling her around the middle. Another small body soon joined the first, and Be'nseree found two young girls hugging her waist.

"Did you bring me anything?" The brunette, Sophie, asked as the blonde, Sissel, tried to squeeze Be'nseree with all her might.

"Ah! I'm, hello, girls," Be'nseree stuttered, unsure of how to react to such enthusiastic affection. "How are you?"

"Loads better, now that you're home!" Sissel smiled wide, releasing Be'nseree to tug on her hand. "Let's play a game!"

"Now, now, kids, give your mother a chance to rest." A gruff, yet silky voice said. Rounding a corner, a green scaled Argonian in merchants clothes smiled broadly at the sight of Be'nseree, flashing every one of his pointed teeth. "Hello, my love. It's so good to see you."

Reaching over the children, Scouts-Many-Marshes gently removed the Daedric helm on Be'nseree's head to plant a kiss on her cheek, taking care not the poke her with the pair of curled horns on the side of his head or the feathers nestled between them. Be'nseree stood in shock, not used to her adopted family relishing so much attention on her. Normally, in game, they just wandered around the house until she spoke to them. Sometimes the kids had random events, but never this much.

"Oh, hello, Scouts. You, you don't mind if I call you that?" Be'nseree asked her husband timidly. She had married the Argonian in game so that she could have a merchant in the house to sell spoils to, even went so far as to pretend he and the housecarl Esilif gave her watched over the kids while she was gone, but the realisation that she was  _ married _ hit her again like a bone to the head.

"Of course you can." Scouts smiled again, his red eyes softening as he gazed at her. "Are you hungry after your travels? Would you like it if I made us an early dinner?"

"Sure. That's would… be great, Scouts. Thanks." Be'nseree took back her helmet and watched Scouts head back upstairs.

"By the way," Scouts added, before he ascended the steps, with a touch of ice to his tone, "Your… traveling companion is asleep in our bed. Should I kick him out so you may rest, love?"

"Eh, no, I said he could sleep there. Leave him be."

With a nod, Scouts disappeared up the stairs, his reptilian tail swaying behind him. The girls were quick to try and latch onto Be'nseree's attention again.

"Momma! I got a new dress! Do you like it?" Sissel twirled, happily showing off the soft green fabric she wore.

"I taught Bunbun a new trick, do you want to see, Momma?" Sophie asked, picking up a bunny that had followed her down the stairs and cuddling it to her chest. She must have squeezed a little too hard, as bunny pellets fell down the front of her red dress, staining it with streaks of brown. Flustered, she cried, "Not that! That's not the trick! I can get her to come to me when I call, that's what I meant-"

"Hold on, girls. Give me a second." Be'nseree put her helmet inside the pocket space of her inventory, trying to decide quickly on how to buy a moment of time. "Um, why don't you two find me a dress to wear to dinner and I'll change out of my armor?"

"Oooh! Yes!" Sissel jumped up and down, excited, and rushed off up the stairs.

"Hold on, Sissel, I wanna help!" Sophie dropped her bunny to chase her sister up the steps. The poor creature shook it's head, slightly dazed from the fall. Looking up at Be'nseree, it twitched it's nose, flicked an ear towards her and back, then hopped up the stairs after the girls.

Alone again, Be'nseree leaned against the enchanting table, flustered. 

Was this what coming home to a loving family was really like? She never had one herself. Role playing in the game was the closest she got. But they were real now. She had children, and a husband, and a best friend. 

The realization brought tears to her onyx eyes. Her vision swam, drops racing down her pale cheeks into her rose colored hair.

This house had once been a place for her to collect the stuff she brought back from adventures. She didn't realize she was building a  _ home. _ Why did their joy at seeing her make her heart hurt?

Wiping the tears from her face, Be'nseree slowly took off her sword, gauntlets, and boots. By the time she had stowed them safely in her inventory, the girls were rushing back down the stairs. 

"This will look pretty on you!" Sissel said proudly, holding up a wine-red dress with a wide black belt.

"And I got these!" Sophie, who now wore a clean blue dress, held up a golden pendant with a ruby set in the center and a gold tiara. 

"Thank you, girls." Be'nseree smiled, sniffing as more tears threatened her eyes from the sight of the girl's smiles.

"Momma, why are you crying?" Sissel asked, looking at the dress in her hands. "Did I pick out something bad?"

Be'nseree shook her head, not trusting her words.

"Is it cuz there's bunny poop on the floor?" Sophie nudged the pellets with her big toe. "I can sweep that up, Momma."

Pulling the girls into another hug, Be'nseree's voice wavered, "I'm just happy to be home. N-now go help Scouts with dinner. I'll be up as soon as I'm done changing."

The girls seemed reluctant to leave her hug, but went upstairs anyways to give her privacy. Taking off the final piece of her armor, Be'nseree stared at it for a long moment before storing it in her inventory and pulling on the silk dress.

~~~

"Sans? Sans, wake up." A voice like wind chimes in the breeze beckoned to him from sleep. Groaning the skeleton rolled over on the blanket. The scent of roses and wood ash washed over him, and his ever present grin widened. 

"I'll have two…" he grumbled in his sleep.

"Sans, dinner is ready. Don't you want to eat?"

At the mention of food, the lights in Sans' eye sockets flickered into existence. His first sight was Be'nseree illuminated by torchlight, her red hair cascading down her pale shoulders. A gold tiara winked at him.

"Woah, hey there." Sans blinked slowly. "Lookit you, all fancy. Am I dreaming?"

"Is it too much?" Be'nseree asked, tucking a lock of hair behind one of her pointed ears, her cheeks pink. Fiddling with the ruby pendant, she admitted, "The girls picked it out for me. I was just going to wear my armor."

"No, you look great." Sans sat up, his cheekbones holding a touch of pale blue. "What's the occasion? Should I change?"

Be'nseree laughed, a sound like tinkling bells. "You're fine just as you are, Sans. Come downstairs. We don't want to keep everyone waiting."

Sliding off the bed, Sans followed Be'nseree to the dining room on the second floor. A fire crackled merrily in the hearth, and the square table had five chairs pulled up to it to accommodate the full house. And the  _ smells _ . Freshly baked bread with rosemary, garlic roasted venison, honey and snowberry pie… Sans could practically feel himself drooling at the sight of it all.

"My Thane, here is the extra seat you wanted." A woman in iron armor came up the basement steps holding a chair from the storeroom.

"Thanks, Jordis. Could you fit it in somewhere?" Be'nseree smiled at the stern-looking, blonde housecarl. Finding dishes for another place, the two women made another place on the table as the girls came rushing in from the sitting room.

"Dinner time! Dinner time!" Sissel clapped, looking at the chairs. "I wanna sit next to Momma!"

" _ I'm  _ sitting next to Momma!" Sophie stamped her foot.

"Girls," Scouts chuckled, "she has two sides. You can both sit next to her."

Grinning as he watched the kids, Sans took his seat across the table from Be'nseree, the fire at his back, watching as the two girls pulled their chairs to sit on the same side as their elf mother. Jordis, appearing flustered, sat as well while Scouts filled their bowls with hot leek soup from a kettle on the fire.

"Scouts, you forgot-" Be'nseree cut herself off, getting up from the table. "It's okay, I got it."

Sans realised in an instant what she meant. Scouts-Many-Marshes had never filled his bowl. Be'nseree replaced the now filled dish in front of him and smiled warmly while Scouts glared coldly at him from the side.

"My love, I don't see why we need to feed a creature who cannot eat." Scouts pointed out while picking bread and meat for his plate.

"I can eat." Sans said cheekily, picking up the bowl and taking a long drink. The soup was much too hot, but he didn't wince or cough or show any sign that he burned his magical blue tongue. "It's delicious, Scouts. Thanks."

"My name is Scouts-Many-Marshes." The Argonian corrected him cooly, his red eyes narrowing.

"Wow! Sans, how can you eat soup?" Sophie's eyes widened as she watched the skeleton finish the rest of the bowl in one slow drink.

"Magic," Sans winked at her. Rather, the light in his eye socket flickered in a way that would suggest a wink.

"I thought undead don't need to eat?" Sissel asked, turning to Be'nseree for an answer.

"Or sleep." Scouts grumbled under his breath as he tore into a dripping hunk of venison.

"Sans isn't an undead." Be'nseree swirled a goblet full of mead, staring into its depths thoughtfully. "He's more of a… living dead."

"What's the difference?" Jordis asked, tearing small hunks of bread from her loaf and chewing them slowly.

"Main thing is I can think for myself." Sans tore into his bread with gusto and thought about the question some more. "And I don't really want to kill everything that moves, so that's a big plus."

"Sans," Sissel motioned towards him, miming picking at her teeth. Taking the hint, the skeleton picked at a piece of rosemary that had gotten caught. 

"Anyways, love, did you deal with the guards at all?" Scouts remarked as Be'nseree giggled at Sans' attempts to remove the small leaf from his teeth.

"Yes, Scouts, why?" Be'nseree turned towards the Argonian as he lowered his voice. With the girls chatting to Jordis animatedly about teaching Bunbun a new trick, Sans could barely hear what the other two were saying with their heads bent together behind Sophie's back.

"Keep the whole city indoors-"

"Something about rationing?"

"If we could trade with a village-"

"It would take months to clear-"

"Hey, Beans!" Sans piped up over the clamor, grabbing the elf's attention. "Could you pass me that snowberry pie? It looks amazing."

"Oh, sure, Sans." Be'nseree lifted her left hand, passing the pie with Telekinesis. Scowling, Sans helped himself to a slice of pie. He could have gotten it himself with his magic, but he wanted to be a part of that conversation more than having the pie. Jealous, he stabbed moodily at his plate while his eye lights kept flicking back to Beans and Scouts' whispered conversation. 

Halfway through his pie, Sans noticed Jordis staring at him out of the corner of her eye. She looked away quickly. All throughout dessert he kept catching her stare and she would quickly look back at her plate as though nothing had happened.

All too soon, the food was gone. The yawning girls were carried upstairs to bed by Be'nseree and Scouts-Many-Marshes, leaving Jordis and Sans to pick up.

"So, something you wanted to say to me?" Sans mentioned nonchalantly as Jordis stacked dirty plates. 

With a glace at the stone staircase, Jordis whispered, "Don't turn your back on Scouts-Many-Marshes."

"Obviously the lizard doesn't like me too much." Sans chuckled as he gathered up cutlery. "I could've figured that out."

"No, it's more than that." Jordis paused in her work, and ear to the upper floor. "I say this because I swore my life to Be'nseree, to protect all that she has, and you must say nothing. Scouts-Many-Marshes  _ despises _ you. He hates that you came first, that you get to travel with our Lady everywhere. He thinks you'll take his place. Don't give him a reason to think more on that."

"Why? Is he gonna hurt Beans or something?" Sans asked in a low voice, the light disappearing from his right socket. Jordis shook her head, her blonde hair swaying.

"No, he would never do that. But I know him. He would find a way to see you dead. I know how much Be'nseree cares for you, she-" Jordis shut her mouth as shadows climbed down the stairs, and was across the room busying herself when Beans and Scouts reappeared.

"Oh, thank you guys for cleaning up!" Be'nseree smiled, hurrying over to help Sans with the crowd of goblets. 

"So, Beans, when are we heading to the Blue Palace?" Sans asked with a sideways glace at Scouts. 

"That's not until later, but," Be'nseree looked out the window at the dark blue sky. The sun had only just set and stars were already visible in the sky. "I suppose Tullius and his men should be back by now. Let me go get changed into my armor."


	2. Ch 2 - Of Wolves and Elves

Ch 2 - Of Wolves and Elves

"There has been no sighting of the dragon since?" 

"None, my Lord." Albedo bowed her beautiful head to her master, her black hair draping elegantly across her bare shoulders. "The eight-edged assassins that came with us to the village reported that it landed briefly in the mountains to the North before heading West."

Lord Ainz leaned back in his throne, thinking. Dragons were the most powerful creatures in Yggdrasil; was it worth pursuing the creature as it flew away from Nazarick?

"I am more concerned about the person they saw riding the dragon." Demiurge pushed his glasses closer to his jeweled eyes. "The distance from which they observed makes this claim difficult to elaborate on, but it is safe to assume that the rider was dropped off in the mountains."

"Even so, someone who can command the force of a dragon is not a person to take lightly." Ainz tapped his bony chin in thought. "Regardless, I believe this rider may be the same one we saw casting magic our first night here. Demiurge, I want you to send some of your forces to scout the mountains."

"It shall be done, my lord." The demon bowed low, the tip of his tail twitching. "I'm glad you see things that way as well."

_ See things what way? That they could be a player? That I want more information?  _ "Indeed, that is so. I trust you to take care of things."

"My Lord, I strongly suggest you wait to depart Nazarick until we have more information on this individual." Albedo raised her head to press her point. "The guardians are more than willing to gather information in your place-"

"We have been over this, Albedo." Ainz stood, taking the guild staff in his hands. "There are things in this world that I need to see for myself to judge accurately. I will leave for the city under the guise of Momon, as planned."

~○~

The meeting at the Blue Palace, which Scouts-Many-Marshes  _ insisted _ on attending, lasted well into the night. General Tullius was late and would not allow the meeting to even start until his second in command, Legate Rikke, had returned from the Imperial quarters with a map of the surrounding mountain paths. (Beans secretly suspected that Tullius wanted to make her own map look incomplete by comparison.) That, and the fact that most of Jarl Elisif's court had left the safety of their rooms to voice their opinions, meant there was a lot of people talking over each other and revisiting the same topics.

The immediate area around Solitude was deemed safe enough for the citizens to wander the city, though arguments started over how to ration the city's food supply until crops could be grown and contact with the village Be'nseree and Sans discovered could be established.

"Of course, that's if we can even get to them!" Legate Rikke protested, pointing at various trails on the Imperial drawn map. "Most of the trails lead to a dead end, or are so treacherous that a cart would never make it up or down the mountain."

"How long would it take to build a road?" Jarl Elisif asked her housecarl. Falk Firebeard considered this at length before telling her a few months, assuming they had the materials and manpower and didn't starve to death.

"But if a trade route could be established in the meantime," Scouts-Many-Marshes spoke up, a finger scratching at his scaly chin, "We could import food and supplies on the backs of horses until the road is complete. It wouldn't be the ideal situation, but it would be better than nothing, yes?"

"We don't have the horses to spare to protect a caravan." Tullius said gruffly. "The mountains are too treacherous on foot, and trade would only be worth it if we can bring back enough so our people don't starve to death."

"I can take care of that." Be'nseree offered, getting a glare from Tullius. "I can show the merchants a way down, and having a few powerful individuals makes more sense than a group from what you're suggesting."

"We will need merchants willing to travel," Falk brought up. "It's a dangerous business, even with a guard. We won't have many people eager to go."

"I will gladly volunteer, then," Scouts held his scaled hand high, his red eyes shining toward Be'nseree. "My skills are more than adequate."

"Scouts, what about the kids?" Be'nseree asked under her breath.

"We'll have Jordis look after them," Scouts replied in equally hushed tones as the General protested to the room.

"I approve of this idea." Elisif raised her voice, commanding the attention of everyone present. "Beans and the Argonian-"

"Scouts-Many-Marshes," Falk whispered in her ear.

"Yes, Scouts-Many-Marshes, will make contact with the village." Jarl Elisif nodded in their direction. "If they are willing to trade with us, then we can establish a caravan to travel between the two places. In the meantime, General Tullius, you should ask your men for volunteers on who shall build the road, as well as the citizens of Solitude. As for our current situation, how long will our stocked siege supplies sustain us?"

"About a month," Rikke said. "People will be hungry, but they won't starve."

"Then we have one month to solve our situation." Jarl Elisif stood from her throne, her gaze sweeping the room to make eye contact with everyone. "If we work together, I know everyone here is capable of seeing this through to resolution. If anyone has questions, come to the Palace at any time and I will see to them."

The people in the room milled about at the dismissal. Be'nseree, Sans, and Scouts left quickly before General Tullius could voice anything else to drag the meeting on. He was already at Jarl Elisif’s side, whispering in agitated tones.

"Shall we head home, my love, and get some sleep?" Scouts asked as they escaped into the cool night air. "We should be up early tomorrow to prepare for our journey and set out as soon as possible."

"Um, you go." Be'nseree glanced at Sans, then the sky. "I want to go get a drink at the tavern first. All that talking, you know?"

"Of course, I'll come with you."

"I think she means just us two, bud." Sans glared at the Argonian, who met his stare with equal intensity. 

"I don't care who comes with, I just want some quiet!" Be'nseree snapped, stomping off down the road and leaving the men behind.

"Don't mind her," Sans said coolly to the shocked Argonian. "It's the beast blood, it makes her all fidgety at night."

"Beast blood?" Scouts repeated, not sure if Sans was messing with him. Sans chuckled.

"Don't tell me you didn't know your wife was a werewolf?" He teased, "Or are you scared of her?"

"N-no, not at all, I just never realized…" Scouts trailed off, muttering to himself, "So that's why she never wants to share the bed. Is she afraid she'll hurt me?"

Sans' permanent smile quickly became a frown. "Best leave this to the professional, bud. I'll take care of her. I've seen her rip out the hearts of entire camps of men with her bare teeth when she gets upset."

Slightly alarmed, Scouts conceded defeat. "Fine, I'll return to the house. Just make sure you're respectful of  _ my wife. _ " His tail barely missed Sans's skull as Scouts turned abruptly to leave.

"Stupid lizard," Sans grumbled, jogging to catch up with Be'nseree. The roads were empty, and he didn't see her at the tavern when he poked his skull inside for a look. Quickly backtracking, fighting the panic bubbling in his chest, Sans searched the city for her.

He spotted her on the city wall, her long hair rippling in the wind like a red scarf. Sans felt his soul clench painfully for a moment, then he was climbing up to sit next to her. "There you are," he chided as he plopped down by her helmet, "Why'd you run away?"

Beans didn't say anything. Her black eyes stoney, she looked out into the dark mountains for a long time before mumbling, "It's not just us anymore, Sans. I thought we could just go on adventures and have fun like we used to."

"Hey, we can still do that." Sans reached out and took her gauntleted hand in his bony one. "What about that place in the hills? We still going there tonight?"

"I can't!" Beans breathed in sharply, pulling her hand away. "I-I have to stay. I have to protect them all. And," tears started to leak out of her eyes, glistening in the moonlight like tiny stars, "what if I can't protect them?"

Sans felt his soul twist painfully. He didn't want to see her cry. He sure as hell didn't want her to feel what he had, when everyone he had loved was taken from him. Well, almost everyone. "Hey, cheer up. You'll always have me, and I'm gonna help you."

Be'nseree hiccuped, wiping her face with the back of her gauntlet. Sans stopped her before she cut herself with the metal claws and gently wiped her pale face with the sleeve of his robe. He stared into her black eyes, still shining brightly with tears. His soul fluttered in his ribs.

"Y-ya know, when I first saw you on this wall," Sans stuttered, looking out into the dark mountains, "You kind of looked like Pap for a second. Or I thought you did, anyway."

Be'nseree gently put her hand on his shoulder. He didn't move away.

"He always wanted to explore the surface… Look, I get that you're scared. To be honest, I'm scared for you. I don't want what happened to me-" Sans felt an invisible lump choke off his next words. The silence hung between them like a wall.

"You must really miss him, huh?" Be'nseree asked gently, squeezing his shoulder in comfort. She could barely see the nod, even with his skull glowing in the moonlight. "I'm so sorry, Sans…"

"Why are you sorry?" Sans chuckled bitterly, fighting the tears at the corners of his eye sockets. "You came back. You rescued me. You helped me kill those awful humans for what they did to everyone. You showed me that there's other things besides drowning in despair."

Be'nseree looked at the skeleton, guilt eating her insides. He was quoting the backstory she had given him, from what she remembered of it, the reason why he "came with her" to Skyrim. She had written it thinking it was a good background, a good reason why he never wanted to go back. Had she known that those sentences would become real memories for him, she wouldn't have made them this painful. 

It was impossible to change the past, to take back what she had done, but maybe she could still do something. Silently vowing to try, Be'nseree pulled Sans into a hug. "I'm glad we're still together. I don't deserve a friend like you."

Sans buried his skull in her hair, calming himself with the scent of roses and wood ash.

~~~

Dawn was bright and cold, the sunlight shining crisply through the thin mountain air. Three horses picked their way down the rocky craigs. Their hooves echoed across the barren stone, bits of rock skittering away as they were dislodged from the mountainside.

In the lead was the undead Arvak, carrying Be'nseree and Sans on his back. Not far behind him was Scouts-Many-Marshes on a black and white mare. The argonian pulled on the rope lead tied to his reigns, coaxing a brown gelding loaded with camping supplies and tradable goods down the slope. Tools, metal, gems, and weapons clanked under a mound of animal furs. Be'nseree and Scouts couldn't agree on what the villagers might want from them, so they packed a bit of everything. It was all a collection of things Be'nseree had been planning to sell anyways, and so she didn't mind providing the materials from her house as an investment in the route. 

"You gonna be able to remember all this, Scouts?" Sans, sitting in front of Beans, peaked back at the Argonian from under Be'nseree's arm, grinning broadly. Scouts glared at him. "Or should we mark the way with chalk?"

"I have an excellent memory for terrain. How else do you think I earned my name?" Scouts said coolly, holding his head high. 

"By getting lost?" Sans chuckled. Be'nseree nudged him in the ribs. "What? I'm just horsing around."

"Be nice," Be'nseree looked between the two, glaring at them from behind her helmet. "You've been having a go at each other all morning. What's with you guys?"

"Nothing, my love." Scouts flicked his reigns, bringing his horse to ride parallel with Arvak as the terrain flattened out. "Just a little excited. It”s our first adventure together, after all."

"It's not all relaxing horseback rides." Sans said, leaning back into Beans' chestplate to rest. 

"At least I can ride a horse," Scouts snapped, "without having to sit like a child!"

"Scouts!" Be'nseree pulled Arvak across the horses' path, stopping the party. "What the hell?"

"Come now, can't you see he's taking advantage of your kind nature?" Scouts' feathers pressed back into his scaly head, showing his anger.

"We don't have enough horses for him to ride on his own," Beans huffed, climbing off of Arvak, "but if that's what's got you two worked up, I'll walk."

"Or we could tie him to the pack horse?" Scouts offered, glaring at Sans.

"Or we could just drag the lizard behind us." Sans glared right back. 

"OR!" Be'nseree threw her hands up in frustration, "You two can stay here and make nice to each other! I'm going to scout the path ahead. When I get back, I want whatever is going on here to be over and done with."

"Would you like to take my horse-" Scouts began to offer, before gasping in surprise. 

Right in front of their eyes, Be'nseree had begun to change. Bones snapped and popped as her face elongated, the black armor on her body melting into long black fur. Sans winced as the skin on her arms and legs stretched and broke, showing raw muscle growing at a shocking pace before dark skin and fur raced to cover it. The entire process looked and sounded incredibly painful.

The two living horses whinnied in fright when they sighted the werewolf easily as big as them. Be'nseree shook her massive head, clearing the pain from her black eyes, and licked her long white teeth with her red tongue. Without so much as a sound to Sans or Scouts, she bounded down the mountain slope and out of sight.

"So, I guess we should 'make nice?'" Sans asked sarcastically, drawing air quotes around his words with his bony fingers. Scouts urged his horse forward so he could look Sans right in the eye sockets.

"Don't think I don't see what you're doing," Scouts hissed, his red eyes narrowed. "Be'nseree may think of you as her companion, but I see you for what you are."

"...a skeleton?" Sans laughed.

"Don't play dumb with me! Why else would you cozy up to her like that? Clearly you can ride on your own, why didn't you walk instead of making her feel like she had to leave?"

_ Cuz this cold mountain is a lot warmer between her legs?  _ Sans bit back this reply, as much as he wanted to say it and piss off the Argonian. "Listen, buddy. You need to stop being so insecure. Beans and I trust each other with our lives. There's a certain level of comfort that comes with that."

"I would like you to respect that she is  _ married to me. _ " Scouts growled.  _ Or I'll find out if it hurts you if someone sticks a dagger between your ribs! _

"And I do," Sans lied. "We're friends, dude. Closer than you may like, but just friends. Isn't marriage about trust, or something like that? Don't you trust Beans to take care of herself when you're not there?"

Struck silent, Scouts blinked dumbly at Sans.

"Come on," Sans continued, "I respect her a lot. I wouldn't do anything to her that made her uncomfortable." He smiled and held out a bony hand to Scouts. "I get you don't like me, but let's agree to get along for her sake, yeah?"

Composing himself, Scouts agreed, and turned his horse around to go check on the supplies. Sans' hand hung in the air, unshaken.

Down the slope, Be'nseree picked her way across a narrow path against the cliffside, nose twitching as she scented the air. Her blood was on fire; she had an overwhelming amount of energy. It would be easy to run forever, but the mountain blocked her way. The frustration with her travelling companions only fueled the desire to move. 

_ Everything was so much easier when I could just kill the problem. How can I make them get along? Or should I just chose one to travel with and be done with it?  _ Be'nseree thought, lifting her wolf head and looking back up the mountainside. _ No, I couldn’t choose, not now. Solitude needs Scouts and his trade route, but I could never leave Sans behind. What's going on with those two? If I knew their personalities better, maybe I could think of somewhere to start, but… _

The biggest problem with that is that she knew Scouts only by his in game dialogue. What the original designers had in mind for his personality, she had no idea. As for Sans, well… she had been wine drunk when she wrote his personality. It had been something fun to do. It wasn't as if it would have  _ mattered _ . Now she regretted not being able to recall the fine details of her own writing.

_ I definitely put in what I perceived from the game, but what else? I know I added more to it than just a love of jokes and a tragic backstory.  _

Be'nseree turned away from the narrow cliff path, unable to find a way that would lead the horses down. The stone walkway would have been fine for a human, but for a horse-sized wolf trying to turn around, it was far too small. Her massive black paw slipped, and Beans felt her lower body drop off the cliffside.

Claws scrambled, desperately grabbing at the smoothed path, slipping on flakes of slate. In her panic, Beans even tried biting at the rock in the cliff face. Even with her powerful bite force, all she managed to do was chip one of her fangs.

_ Sans! _ She cried out mentally, wishing for someone to catch her. But he was further up the path, out of sight. He wasn’t able to save her. She couldn’t even turn herself ethereal with a Shout and save herself.

She should have stayed on the horse.

Lifting her muzzle to the sky, Be’nseree howled. A deep, throaty bellow, Howl of the Pack would summon two spectral wolves to her and, with luck, they could haul her back onto the path. Her front paws slipped closer to the edge as her grip failed. Breath misting in the chill air, Be'nseree held on as best she could for a few more agonizing seconds. No wolves appeared, which she found odd. Summoning Arvak had worked just fine, why not this time?

Her black claws couldn’t hold on any longer. Alone, out of ideas, Be’nseree fell.

~~~

A lone howl echoed up the mountainside. The black and white mare under Scouts tossed her head nervously and nickered. The Argonian patted her neck, soothing her, and asked, "Is she always gone so long?"

"Give her time," Sans took up Arvak's reigns, guiding him to the edge of the plateau, overlooking the cliffs below. He thought of Be’nseree, his soul clenching tightly with anxiety. “Beans always comes back.” Much more quietly, to himself, he repeated, “Always.”

More echoes of wolves howling traveled up to them, higher in pitch than the first. Sans had a feeling in his nonexistent guts that those weren’t the howls of a werewolf. Had Beans used Howl of the Pack? Was she in some kind of trouble?

“Come on, let’s go find her.” Sans kicked Arvak’s ribs, spurring the undead horse down the mountain.

“Shouldn’t we stay put?” Scouts hesitated, not being able to decide between waiting for Be’nseree to return, or not being left alone in the mountains. Another howl spooked the mare beneath him, and his choice was made for him.

“We’ll make our way down the mountain,” Sans pointed Scouts towards a vague path made of large boulders. It was a path with a steep incline, but lead away from a narrow cliff path that would be too much for the horses. “Keep your lidless eyes peeled.”

“I’m not a snake.” Scouts huffed, squinting against the bright light as he searched for signs of his wife. 

“Could’ve fooled me,” Sans grumbled back.

The horses climbed the boulders easily, their hooves finding purchase in the stone that would have been impossible for most creatures. They were, after all, steeds of Skyrim, and therefore the best mountain climbers one could imagine.

The sun was low in the sky by the time they caught sight of the forest, the end of their mountain path. Both Sans and Scouts were quiet. Though they had been needling each other with not so subtle insults the entire way down, as a way to deal with their increasing anxiety, but having found no evidence whatsoever of their female companion had them at a loss.

As they entered the treeline, a pack of wolves melted out of the deepening shadows to greet them. Sans held up a skeletal hand, his left eye sparking a light blue flame, ready to attack the wolves if they should pounce. 

The largest of the wolf pack, brown with streaks of grey on its muzzle, approached with a giant black wolf hiding in his shadow - Beans. Her black pelt shone with blood. The two sniffed at each other, barely coming within a stone's throw of the horses, before the brown alpha took off into the forest with his pack behind him.

"Amazing…" Scouts sighed in wonder, watching the wolves blend into the green foliage and disappear. "To think you can command wolves as well. Is there nothing you cannot do, my love?"

"She has a name, you know." Sans growled, narrowing his eye lights at Scouts. His gaze jumped back to Beans, at the blood all over her face, fur, and paws. What had happened?

Before Scouts could so much as open his mouth, Beans yelped in pain. Sans jumped, ready to use his magic against an unknown attacker, before he saw the black fur on her body falling in clumps to the ground. 

As suddenly as she had once transformed into a werewolf, Be'nseree was changing back. Her limbs squelched as they shorted and thinned back into normal arms and legs. The black fur on her head lengthened and grew lighter as the rose red returned. Her ears wiggled as they travelled from the top of her skull to the sides, taking on their familiar pointy shape. The change was over. Be'nseree shivered as she stood naked in the breeze, her skin glowing like ivory in the twilight.

Scouts wasted no time in jumping off his horse. Rushing to the gelding, he pulled a roll of bear skin from among the supplies they had brought to cover the exposed elf with, showering the forest floor with items. Sans sat frozen, his bones growing hotter by the second, unable to tear his gaze away from Be’nseree’s tall, slender frame.

"Are you alright?" Scouts asked Beans gently, throwing the brown pelt around her shoulders to preserve her modesty. 

Beans nodded, one of her hands reaching up to hold her forehead. "I'm fine," she said groggily, like she had just woken up from a deep sleep. "It's so much… darker now. I feel like I can't hear or smell anything either. Like all my senses have just been dulled…"

"You can't see?" Sans got off Arvak, alarmed, and rushed over. Scouts glared at him and turned Beans away from the skeleton to be examined in privacy. Sans clenched his fists tightly, wanting so badly to punch the Argonian. Hadn’t he seen the blood? Did he think he was the only one worried?

"I can see,” Beans let Scouts gently take her hand from her face to look up at her dark eyes, his red ones full of concern. "Everything is just… less. I'm tired. The wolves said they would leave us alone, but we shouldn't travel the forest at night. The Wise King might attack us."

"Let us make camp, then." Scouts took Be'nseree by the hand and led her over to a tall oak tree to sit under. "I'll get us some food going. Sans, you take care of the fire."

"...you sure you're okay?" Sans asked in a whisper as Scouts hurried towards the gelding to unpack camping supplies. Be'nseree nodded. “Were you attacked? Where did all that blood come from?”

"Everything’s fine. I'm just drained." The elf leaned back against the thick trunk and closed her eyes. Within seconds her breathing deepened and she was asleep.

_ Figures. I don't think she's slept in days. _ Sans thought, getting up to help Scouts build their camp. If Beans needed rest that badly, he would let her have it. He could save his questions for the morning. The Argonian had already pulled out some of their rations and a kettle, a knife clenched in his hands to prepare the ingredients. Sans moved towards the gelding, picking up the items that had been strewn across the ground.

"Listen, you," Scouts growled, descending upon Sans with the knife held up threateningly, his lips curled back over his fangs. "If I catch you staring at my wife like that again, I'm going to cut your eyes out!"

"Easy there bud," Sans held up his hands in mock surrender, his finger tips glowing with the faintest traces of blue. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were going to attack me. Aren't we having a good time?"

"Keep yourself away from her, or you're going to have a _ bad time!"  _ Scouts hissed. "Now go get that firewood like a good thrall and leave us alone!"

Sans clenched his fists tightly, wanting nothing more than to summon a cloud of bones to pummel the stupid lizard into unconsciousness. He watched Scouts drag the kettle of food over to Beans. Taking a seat near her on the roots, Scouts pulled carrots and potatoes from the kettle and cut them up before dropping them back into the pot. Swallowing his anger, Sans stomped off into the bushes to search for things he could burn.

~~~

_ Be'nseree sat on a bright, grassy hill; her white dress splayed across the ground like the petals of a giant lily, her fingers weaving grass together into a delicate chain. Across the hill, Sans twisted a tap on a barrel, filling his goblet with ketchup. _

_ "Don't drink it all at once, I had to trade the house to get that." Beans laughed, watching the skeleton stumble like a drunk and spill ketchup all over his blue hoodie. He laughed, spilling more onto his pink slippers, and slipped. His body hit the ground and exploded into ketchup, splattering all over her white dress. _

_ "Sans?" Beans dropped the thin chain, crawling over the grass to look into the puddle for Sans, but couldn't see into the depths where he had fallen. Black mist creeped over the grass, blocking out the light and pulling at her dress and fingers. "What is this? What's happening??" _

_ The mist wrapped its tendrils around her, squeezing tighter and tighter. The mist had blood red eyes, and it was watching her, mouth grinning with teeth that inched towards her throat and she knew she would be a puddle of ketchup next. _

_ A shadow, darker than the blackest night, grew above her, blocking out the last bit of light as it stretched its massive wings. It's eyes glowed a bright crimson, like fire, and it roared a dragon's roar. The world shook and broke like glass around her and she was falling… _

_ ~~~ _

Beans gasped, sitting up suddenly and covered in sweat. The bear skin slid off her shoulders into her lap. Her eyes adjusted to take in the dark forest; the pile of embers glowing in a cleared patch of dirt on the leaf littered floor. Someone had put a shirt on her and tied cloth around her waist like a skirt.

It had been a dream. One that scared her out of her wits, but just a dream.

Looking around, Beans spotted Scouts sleeping near her on the other side of the tree's roots. The night was cool, and he had slept on top of another bear skin with a deer hide to keep him warm. Spotting the horses on the edge of the firelight, Beans stood quietly and tiptoed towards them.

The two living horses slept soundly together, their bodies nestled close for warmth. A short distance away in the dark was Arvak, his skull lifting from the ground to watch her approach.

"Hey buddy," Beans whispered, stroking his long jaw in greeting. On Arvak's other side slept Sans, leaning against the undead horse's rib cage like a pillow. The wind whistled through the trees and he shivered.

Retrieving the pelt that had covered her, Beans gently covered Sans against the night. The skeleton sighed and curled up, burying his face into the fur. Leaving him to sleep, Beans went to the fire and fed twigs into it. Both to give her something to do and to bring heat to their small clearing.

The wind picked up again, rustling the foliage and turning the shadows into black mist and creeping tendrils. Shaking her head, Beans blinked the image away and reached into her invisible inventory. Her hand found the familiar spikes of her Daedric armor. With a sigh of relief, she pulled the heavy suit and her sword out onto the ground. 

The clothes she woke up in wouldn't fit comfortably under the armor. Taking her time, Beans quietly tore the shirt into a tank top, and the cloth skirt into a tieable bikini bottom. It wasn't the most fashionable underwear, but it made Beans feel better as she put her armor back on.

"I don't much like being a werewolf," Be'nseree whispered to Arvak. The undead horse kept his skull fixed on her, giving her the impression she was being stared at. "Transforming bit kind of sucks. And there was this dream… I know werewolves aren't supposed to get any rest bonuses, but I didn't think that meant nightmares. I dunno if disease immunity is worth all that."

Arvak watched her, only his smoky purple-black mane and tail moving. Beans fed more sticks into the fire until it burned brightly. Lying back on the grass, she stared up through the leafy canopy at the stars.

“Or maybe,” she whispered to Arvak, “Maybe I had that dream because…” she trailed off, unable to say the words out loud.  _ Maybe it was because I died. _ Determined not to sleep again that night, holding her helmet in her hands, Beans watched the world turn.

Scouts was the first the stir as dawn lit up the forest. His swamp colored scales helped him blend into the foliage, and Beans wouldn't have known he was moving about if she hadn't heard him.

"Ah, you're awake." Scouts yawned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he sat shirtless by the fire. "Do you feel any better?"

"I'm fine. Sorry I took your shirt." Beans trailed off, feeling guilty. Scouts waved the apology away.

"Think nothing of it. It was the least I could do to preserve your modesty, especially since some of us," Scouts glared at Arvak, or rather, the one who slept on the other side, "can't keep their eyes to themselves."

Feeling her face grow hot, Beans suggested, "Maybe we can get you a new one at the village?"

"I should think so. Speaking of such things, I wanted to discuss some trading points I thought of last night while you slept." Scouts found the kettle, still with some soup at the bottom, and offered it to her while he talked about the various strategies he wanted to use with the villagers. Be'nseree was amazed, honestly, at how well he had thought everything out, and sat silently eating her breakfast. He had planned for almost everything. What to do if they needed none of their supplies, or all of it; or if they were a village affected by war, like so many places were in Skyrim.

"And if they would let us use some of their surrounding lands to build farms, we could create a sustainable way to feed Solitude without relying solely on trade," Scouts said enthusiastically, his speech quickened as he tried to voice all of his ideas, "Which would in turn provide other opportunities for us. Perhaps we could convince the General to bring his soldiers down to help protect the village people. In Skyrim, the small settlements were always wanting for guards against monsters and bandits."

"Wow, you've really thought of everything." Beans stared at him, taken aback at how well suited he was to be a trader. She had married him in game just to be an in-house shopkeep; she had no idea he was capable of this. Scouts glowed under her gaze, pride puffing his chest out, the scales on his cheeks turning dark green.

"Kinda makes you think he doesn't need us, doesn't it?" Sans yawned, standing up and stretching his bones. How long he had been listening, Beans couldn't guess.

"Of course he needs us, we're his guard," Beans said quickly, cutting off Scouts before he and Sans could start bickering again. "And I appreciate his ideas. I never would have thought of them."

"You're too modest, my love." Scouts watched her fondly as she rose from her spot by the fire.

"Why don't you two get something quick to eat while I pack up camp," Beans said as she gathered the animal skins off the ground. "We should only be a couple hours ride from the village. The more daylight we have to barter, the better."

"I would rather wait until we are at the village to eat." Scouts cleaned the last dregs of soup from the kettle with a splash of water from his water skin. "If we show the villagers were not wanting for food, even when we are, we”ll get a better price."

"Oh... ok." Be'nseree handed the pelts off to Scouts to be tied to the horse. Thinking, she asked him, "Scouts, you seem to have a better idea than I do about how to handle this. Why don't you lead us from here out?"

Scouts looked up in surprise from the knot he was tying. Behind them, Sans dropped the hunk of bread he had pulled out of Arvak's saddle bags.

"I don't know about- Are you sure? You're a much better leader than I am, my love." Scouts brow furrowed as he fumbled with the rope.

"I'm sure." Be'nseree put her helmet on and checked the charge of the sword at her waist. "You've thought way more about this than I have. The negotiations are up to you, Scouts. Leave the protection part up to Sans and me."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Sans asked, offering Beans the reigns to Arvak. She declined, allowing him to sit on the undead horse's back. Astride Arvak, Sans noticed how much taller he seemed compared to the elf. That odd thought broadened his ever present grin.

With Scouts astride the dappled mare, they moved on into the deeper part of the forest. The brown gelding set their pace from the middle of the pack, his hooves slowly seeking out the game trail Scouts followed. Sans and Arvak were second to last. Beans hung at the back of the group with her left hand held up at chest level. Blue and red light from Detect Life and Detect Undead glowed alternatingly on her fingers, her eyes and ears focused on their surroundings.

Sans pulled at Arvak's reigns, slowing the undead horse and allowing Beans to catch up with him. There was a lot he wanted to say, but the focused aura radiating off the high elf kept him silent. Hours into their hike, he couldn't stand the quiet any longer and asked, "So, what happened yesterday?"

Beans released the magic in her left hand. Patting Arvak's rib cage, she said, "Don’t worry about it. For now, at least. Let's just focus on helping Scouts fix the problems in Solitude, then we can go back to exploring. I still want to see that building in the hills."

"Or what about this Wise King guy?" Sans smiled broadly, glad that an adventure, just the two of them, was still in Beans; mind. He wanted to ask more, but if it was just a fight, he knew Beans could handle herself, and so buried his worry in the back of his thoughts. "Did the wolves tell you about him?"

"Yeah," Beans nodded. Stopping suddenly, the elf stiffened, her right hand flying the hilt of her serrated sword. "Sans, go stop Scouts. We're not alone in here."

~●~

Aura swelled with admiration. How amazing it was to watch her Lord subdue the Wise King without so much as a single point of physical damage being dealt. Kicking her feet, Aura hoisted herself onto her perch, a thick tree branch high off the ground.

"That was magnificent, Lord Ainz!" Aura applauded. "What do you plan on doing with it? If you're going to kill it, would you mind letting me keep the hide?"

"No, spare me, I beg! Shall be of most use to you, I can!" The giant hamster quivered with fright at the feet of Aura's master, her paws scraping at the dirt near his armored feet.

Ainz waved the hamster away dismissively. "I shall not kill you, so long as you swear your loyalty to me.” Turning, Ainz said to his companion on the forest floor, “Naberal, we shall bring this creature back with us to Carne Village in order to increase our fame."

"Of course, my Lord." The severe looking Pleiades maid bowed deeply, her straight black hair falling into her face. 

"Aura," Ainz turned, directing his attention to the dark elf in the trees, "I want you to return to Nazarick for now."

"Done and done!" Aura balanced on her branch as easily as if it were solid ground. Whistling for her beasts to follow, she jumped through the trees and deeper into the woods.

_ How cool is Lord Ainz? _ Aura sighed to herself as she raced through the treetops.  _ That creature wasn't very high level, but to bring it under submission with only a few words! I'd be lucky to be half the beast tamer that he is when I grow up. _

A flash of white caught Aura's eye, and she slowed. Sensing an undead, she perched on a high branch like a bird and peered into the forest. 

There, not even a dozen yards away, a sunbeam reflected the flash of white again. Cloaking herself in stealth, Aura creeped closer. What she saw made her gasp in surprise. 

First glance told her that Lord Ainz was in front of her, astride an undead horse, with Lady Albedo in full armor at his side. Looking closer, she chastised herself for being so wrong. Lord Ainz was much taller, with robes far more elegant than this scruffy skeleton and its undead mount. And how could she have mistaken the woman for Lady Albedo? This new woman was taller, sure, but also radiated an air of underlying ferocity that gave Aura goosebumps. Albedo radiated power, sure, not nothing so raw or primal. The woman’s armor was different, too. Being black was where the similarities ended. This new armor had pointed horns like spikes instead of the elegant curves like Albedo's armor had, with accents of dark red crisscrossing it like veins.

"Did the wolves tell you about him?" The skeleton asked his companion in a deep voice. Aura's eyes darted along the trail, adding two more horses and a lizardman rider to the party's count.

"Yeah," the armored woman nodded, her voice like a crystal chime; completely contradictory to her appearance. Suddenly, she stiffened, her hand reaching towards her vicious-looking sword. "Sans, go stop Scouts. We're not alone in here."

_ Scouts? There are more of them that I didn't see? _ Aura remembered her Lord's words and prepared to run away. A flash of green light blinded her. Her legs wouldn't move. Nothing would move.

Aura fell from the tree, stiff as a board, still crouched in the same position she had been moments ago. 

She landed hard, her face stinging, dirt getting in her open mouth and eyes. Wet leaves clung to her scaled red suit. Her heart fluttered in panic. Whoever had cast the spell must be a powerful mage to overcome her resistances.

"What's this?" The bright voice of the woman asked, her armored feet disturbing the leaves near Aura's head as she crouched. "You're just a kid, aren't you?" Aura could just spot the outline of the woman's serrated blade on the edge of her frozen vision. The blade throbbed with magic, oozing faint tendrils of red, blue, and white plasma, devouring the sunlight that touched it. Aura fought the magic that bound her, but to no avail. Warning bells rang through Aura’s mind, paralyzing her as effectively as the magic.

"Everything okay, Beans?" The deep voice of the skeleton called out.

"It's fine, it's just a kid." The woman, Beans, called back. She gently touched Aura with a claw on her gauntlet. The dark elf's body relaxed, and she could feel control returning to her limbs.

"Sorry about that," the woman held a hand out to Aura, offering to help her off the ground. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Aura's eyes darted from the woman to the trees, trying to decide if she should run or fight. Lord Ainz had ordered her to prioritize escape in the case she was outnumbered, and that sword scared Aura, reluctant as she was to admit it. Her beasts had to be close by, she could whistle for them to attack, and gain advantage in the ensuing chaos. 

"Hey, you're an elf?" The woman asked gently, reaching to touch the tips of Aura's ears. Aura smacked the hand away, scooting back on her butt.

"Hey, it's ok." The woman hung that awful sword at her hip and removed her helmet. Locks of red hair cascaded onto the black armor like rose petals. Aura spotted pale, pointed ears on the sides of the woman's head. "My name is Be'nseree, what's yours?"

Should she say something? Aura had been ordered to return to Nazarick. However, if she ran now, she might lead this woman back to the Great Tomb. Either way, Aura envisioned Lord Ainz's wrath at her failure and shivered. 

"I'm not going to hurt you," Beans crooned softly, misinterpreting Aura's body language. "Where are your parents? Did you get lost?"

"Leave me alone!" Aura snapped, jumping to her feet, her hand reaching for the hilt of her whip. She had no more than touched the tips of her fingers to the braided leather when a bone materialized in the air, it's broken end pointing at the spot between her eyes.

"Sans, don't," Beans grabbed the hovering bone, pushing it away. "She's scared enough as it is."

The skeleton approached, the bright blue flame is his left eye vanishing with the floating bone. Behind him was the lizardman, the feathers on his head ruffled, a bundle of twigs and leaves caught in his curved horns. Judging by the dirt on his scaled face, he had been forced to the ground just like Aura had.

"What is a child doing so deep in the forest?" The lizardman asked, his voice smooth like silk. 

"Should we bring her with us to the village?" Beans asked, turning her back on Aura. Seizing her chance, Aura bolted into the trees, whistling for her beasts to pick her up so they could run away.

"Looks like she'd rather  _ leaf. _ " The skeleton chuckled.

The giant chameleon Aura commanded melted into sight, it's legs a blur as it ran to keep up with its dark elf master. Aura jumped onto it's back just as her giant wolf bounded next to her. Lifting a finger to her ear, Aura cast Message.

"Lord Ainz, forgive my interruption." Aura voice shook. She bowed her head, even though she knew her master could not see her. "I ran into a group of three in the forest."

"Are you okay, Aura?" Her master's concern warmed her through, but Aura had to admit her mistakes. 

"They captured me, my Lord, but I was able to get away." Aura hung her head still lower, to the point her forehead was almost touching the chameleon's back. "I think they might be dangerous, and I learned that they are heading toward the village."

"WHAT? They captured you?!" Ainz shouted, surprised. Aura felt her face burn in shame. It was pathetic of her to be cornered like that.

"I will go fight them, my Lord, and give you time to get away-"

"No, Aura!" The force in Lord Ainz's tone gave her pause. "I'm glad you got away, don't go near them if you think they're dangerous. Hide yourself. I'm coming to you."

"But, my Lord!"

"That's an order!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading as far as part two! I know my publication schedule is every two weeks, but I was so excited to get this out here that I couldn't wait. I hope you're enjoying the story so far, and I promise there will be more of Lord Ainz and the denizens of Nazarick to come. As always, please feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts (I'd love to know how I can improve, or just to hear about what you liked about the story.) Stay hydrated, lovelies!


	3. Ch 3 - Let's Make A Deal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your patience! I hope you like the new chapter! I'm excited that Ainz has finally entered the frey, and I bet you all were eager to see him too.

Ch 3 - Let's Make A Deal

Aura was not the kind of girl to be easily frightened. That, Ainz knew, was a sure thing. She tamed beasts, helped her brother with his confidence, and could look an enraged vampire in the eye and chastise her about stuffing her bra.

To hear her voice shake, to be so unnerved, it had to be something  _ big.  _

His excuse to leave Nfirea and the Swords of Darkness and dash off into the woods was feeble, at best. He didn't much care. That was a problem for later. What concerned Ainz now was getting to Aura. She had conveyed to him via Message where to find this strange trio, so that was where he knew he must also be.

"Master, please! Keep up, I cannot!" The giant hamster cried as it ran after Ainz and Naberal. Though it was a creature familiar with the forest, Ainz had abandoned running as soon as his form was lost in the foliage in favor of flight speed; Naberal following shortly after. He was grateful he still had the winged amulet in his inventory. At his current pace it was much easier to dodge the randomly spaced trees with magic rather than physical prowess.

"My Lord, I detect the life forms Lady Aura informed us about." Naberal said coolly, ignoring the hamster. Although her arms were up to protect her face from the branches that whipped by, she pointed out, "Directly ahead, about 20 yards."

"Good," Ainz slowed his flight to a halt and hovered above the forest floor. Landing gently, he said in what he hoped was a commanding voice, "Cloak yourself in stealth and find Aura. I'm going to confront these people and find out why they were after her."

"My Lord, I can't let you go alone!" Naberal landed beside him and bowed, "I will gladly kill myself for disobeying your order, but it is my duty to protect you!"

"N-not necessary, Naberal." Ainz stammered, still not used to the NPCs willingness to kill themselves if they thought they had displeased him. "Hm, fine. If you aren't willing to leave, then stay out of sight and have Aura meet you here. Hide yourselves with magic and, if it comes to it, you can assist me. Don't show yourself unless they attack."

"Of course, my Lord." Naberal bowed more deeply, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. Behind her, the Wise Kind broke through the bushes to join them, panting heavily and making a ruckus.

"And keep the Wise King with you!" Ainz whispered, hearing strange voices approaching the noise the giant hamster made.

There had not been time for Ainz to change out of his raven black armor into his robes. Nor was there time to observe the people who had intimidated Aura, or come up with strategy. If he wanted to keep possible hostiles from stumbling upon Naberal, Ainz had to step out now and make his presence known. He'd just have to wing it.

"Little elf - oh!" A bright voice exclaimed as Ainz stepped out from the shadows of the trees. Ainz's first impression of the woman was mixed. She didn't seem to have noticed him until they were right on top of each other. However, the black, spiked armor and vicious sword with clearly powerful enchantments made him think of a high level Yggdrasil warrior, though he had never seen armor like that in game. It was clear why Aura was wary, but Ainz was now curious.

"Hello, uh, sir. I didn't see you." The woman was tall, almost as tall as Ainz, but fell short by a few inches. Blue wisps of magic vanished from her left hand as she lowered it. "Did you see a small elf run by?"

"And what would you want with her?" Ainz said stonily, his body tensing.

"Cuz kids shouldn't be alone in the woods?" The woman's helm tiled, showing her confusion. "You wouldn't be after her, would you?" The woman's hand drifted to rest on the hilt of her sword. "She seemed awfully scared of something."

What kind of strategy would this woman have, if she attacked? She clearly favored the sword, but why have only one and no shield? Did she use combat magic? How high was her level? Would fighting be something akin to the monsters Ainz had already fought in this world? There were so many questions he felt needed answering. 

He definitely couldn't place the design of the armor in his mind, so this woman couldn't be from Yggdrasil and had to be a resident of this new world; unlikely to be a player. Confident in that logic, but still wary from lack of general knowledge, Ainz considered her. He could feel an almost physical pressure radiating from her. A level of intimidation that high would not directly affect Aura with her stats, and Ainz was safe due to his psychic nullification, but it was definitely a display of power unyet seen in this new world. The woman would absolutely terrify any human she would come across. However, she sounded genuinely concerned for Aura's safety, so perhaps there was some kind of misunderstanding?

He was silent for too long. The woman tightened her grip on her sword, subtly widening her stance and lowering her center of gravity.

"My love, are you there? I couldn't find any sign of the elf." A man's smooth voice broke the quiet and a green lizardman stepped through a clutch of ferns. He stopped suddenly when he spotted Ainz, his red eyes darting between him and the woman.

"I have no problem with the elf." Ainz said, thinking quickly. If these people were high ranking adventurers from another country, it could be problematic later on to kill them outright. Without witnesses, that was definitely still an option, but what if they proved to be useful contacts? Not to mention he wanted to know more about who they were and how they found Aura, who should have been impossible to catch in a forest. If they somehow stumbled across Aura by chance, he had to find out how it happened. "I… heard voices and came to investigate. I'm an adventurer, you see. It's part of the job to protect people."

"Oh, you're like my wife then!" The lizardman smiled, his pointed teeth gleaming. "That makes things a little easier. Perhaps you can direct us towards the nearby village?"

"Your… wife?" Ainz looked at the woman anew. Aura reported that the woman was actually an elf of sorts. Were interspecies marriages common in this world? What would happen if they had children together? Ainz felt his collector's instincts itch. He hadn't seen any demihumans in Re-Estize yet, and did not have the impression that the people of the Kingdom were fond of other races. These two could prove to be valuable test subjects, if nothing else. "I see. What business do you have in the village?"

"Trade." The lizardman approached Ainz, his green, scaly hand outstretched in greeting. Ainz noticed that the woman stepped back at the lizardman's approach, though she hadn't dropped her guard. "My name is Scouts-Many-Marshes."

"Momon." Ainz stared at the hand for a second, then shook it. Scouts-Many-Marshes was an odd name, but the lizardman was definitely dressed like a merchant. He may have been shirtless, but his trousers were made of clean, tan cotton; his hands had rings decorated with expensive stones, and his shoes were made of shined, tailored leather.

The woman looked Ainz up and down, shown by the movement of her spiked helmet, then held out a gauntleted hand as well, though the other remained on her sword. "I'm Be'nseree." Her handshake definitely had force to it.

"Did we find the elf?" A deep voice entered, followed by a short skeleton in blue robes. Ainz stared, caught completely off guard. An undead, part of an adventuring company? The short skeleton stared back, the white lights in his eye sockets narrowed as he stared at Ainz.

"The thrall is Sans." Scouts-Many-Marshes said coolly, waving a hand in his general direction.

"You're quite an interesting party," Ainz offered his hand to his fellow skeleton, wondering about him. His robes were also of fine make, with high level enchantments. Not many undead had the power of speech, but didn’t seem like any kind of Lich. Ainz wondered if he was a new kind of undead, one he hadn’t seen in Yggdrasil. "Where do you come from?"

"North." The skeleton said vaguely, and shook Ainz's hand. Sans let out a low whistle, his eye lights looking Ainz up and down. "I can see you're a guy with a whole lotta love."

_ What the hell is that supposed to mean? Is this guy seriously… hitting on me? _ "Um, thank you?" Taking his hand back, Ainz looked around the forest to see if any more surprises were going to pop out of the trees. "If you're traders, where are your goods?"

"Our horses aren't far," Scouts-Many-Marshes said, "Does that mean you'll show us to the village? If you’re looking for payment, we could spare a few septims for the trouble."

“What about the elf girl?” The woman, Be’nseree, looked out to the trees as if the elf child would pop out from behind them. “We can’t leave a kid alone in the woods, it’s not right. What if she gets hurt?”

“I’m sure she wasn’t alone, my love.” The lizardman crossed the clearing to his wife and took her hand. “She probably ran back to her parents, or to the village.”

“That kid can take care of herself,” The skeleton, Sans, crossed his arms and examined Ainz with his eye lights. “So, big guy, you gonna help us?”

Ainz considered this. The village was still recovering, and he wanted to provide his assistance to place the people firmly in debt to him. On the other hand, these adventurers might be able to provide materials that could further Nfirea's research. The woman, who would terrify the humans on sight, seemed like she had genuine concern for Aura’s well being. Then there was the lizardman and the undead... Would exiting the forest with such a party potentially damage his reputation? Perhaps it would be better to dispose of them, if they could not be persuaded to go somewhere else. As always, he needed information. Misleading them for awhile while he thought on his final decision would have to do. 

"I suppose I can show you the way. Gather your horses and we can head out. I'll meet you back here in a moment after I contact my fellow party members." Ainz turned and walked far enough away to Message Naberal without being overheard. If he decided these people could not be useful to his own plans, he would dispose of them.

~○~

As soon as Momon was out of earshot, Beans went over to Sans. What he had said when he shook the warrior's hand was not lost on her. Quickly she asked, "Are you sure? How high?"

"One of the highest I've ever seen." Sans watched the space of green Momon had disappeared into. "The elf was just as high."

"What?" Beans half shouted, surprised. Hushing her voice again, she said, "She's just a kid!"

Sans shrugged, "I've seen a kid like that before in the Underground. But that Momon guy could be trouble, Beans."

“Yeah,” Beans nodded, remembering the genocide route’s character, Chara, “You don’t have to look like a monster to be one.”

"What are you two talking about?" Scouts asked, coming over. Unable to see Be'nseree's face, he noted Sans' concerned expression and said, "I don't think there is anything to worry about. Momon is going to help us, after all. Besides, no one is stronger than my wife."

_ Maybe back in Skyrim, but who's to say if that's the same in Yggdrasil? _ Be'nseree thought. Momon and the elf kid were the first people they had met in this new world. Was everyone at that high a level? Should Beans challenge Momon, just to compare her strength in a duel? It was a tempting thought, fighting this warrior named Momon, as a way to test herself, but Scouts was given the lead after they broke camp this morning. If he wanted to trust Momon, then Be'nseree would follow along for now; the other option being that they wander the forest until they found the village. It would probably hinder Scouts' plan of action if she asked Momon to brawl in the middle of the woods.

Rather than stomping through the undergrowth to find their horses, Be'nseree tugged on the threads of her mental connections to her summoned creatures. She felt Arvak acknowledge her summons, as well as the Seeker she had conjured to watch over the horses while they had searched for the elf child. A monster that could turn invisible, summon copies of itself, and attack from multiple directions seemed like the best choice at the time.

Arvak whinnied in delight at the sight of them. Climbing over tree roots, it cantered into the clearing, tossing its smokey mane, to receive pets from its master. Not far behind were the black and white mare and the brown gelding. 

"What in the names of the Eight is that?" Scouts recoiled in disgust, sighting the Seeker floating along behind the horses. The Cthulu-esque monster wiggled it's many tentacles in joy upon seeing Be'nseree; it's mottled, long fingered hands reaching out to touch her arm in greeting. Unable to actually speak, it purred a hello; a gargling, strangled sound.

"It's a Seeker." Be'nseree explained. Scouts had gone ahead of her to look for the elf and so had not been present during its summoning. Deciding on the spot she added, "Their name is Mora."

"Cuz its got Mora tentacles than it knows what to do with," Sans chuckled, enjoying Scouts' discomfort. Be'nseree giggled at the pun, glad for a joke to break the tension.

"You certainly do keep strange company." The voice of Momon and rustle of ferns announced the warrior's return. Following behind him was a pretty, albeit severe looking, woman with long, black hair as well as what could only be described as a giant hamster with a snake-like tail. Though Ainz stared at the undead horse and the Seeker, he introduced his companions, "This is Nabe and the Wise King of the Forest."

Sans stared at the Wise King, barely suppressing a snort of laughter. Beans was likewise biting her tongue. The wolves had described the Wise King as a terrifying creature of enormous power. What it actually was… was totally underwhelming.

"This guy serious?" Sans whispered, elbowing Beans in the hip. She held a hand in front of her helm to stifle her renewed giggling.

"Such a beautiful beast," Scouts sighed, clearly impressed. Sans let out a snort of laughter; Scouts glared. 

"Before we set off, there are some things I would like to know," Momon crossed his arms and looked down at them all. "First, I'm curious as to how such a strange group as yourselves has formed."

"What's that matter?" Beans asked, crossing her arms and mimicking Momon's posture. The woman, Nabe, scowled at Beans, her fists tightening.

"I mean no offense, I am simply curious." Momon gestured to the various members of their motley crew. "A lizardman, a skeleton, and… whatever that is?" He pointed questioningly at Mora, who gurgled threateningly. "Not to mention you use an undead as a beast of burden. Do the people of your hometown normally live alongside other species?"

"For the most part." Scouts scratched the green scales on his chin in thought. "Although relations between men and mer are more strained in the prominently Nord settlements. Do you come from one of those, Momon?"

"Nord…?" Momon chewed on the unfamiliar word.

"It's just a racial name." Be'nseree shrugged. "Or maybe that’s not a common phrase in this worldl?"

Momon stared at her. Or rather, his raven black helm turned towards her and didn't look away. Beans could swear she could see red eyes inside the thin eye slits in his helm, watching her with unreadable intention.

"What is your purpose then, in the village?" He asked after some time. "You travel quite heavily armed for a simple trade."

"Never know what kinds of monsters are out there." Sans' eye lights flickered in his way of a wink.

"Yes, as a monster yourself, I'm sure you'll give us a wonderful impression." Scouts narrowed his eyes. "It wouldn't be wise to bring you into the village with us, or that creature," Scouts gestured towards Mora, who wiggled his tentacles in a threatening way. "In fact, I think you should just go back to Solitude."

"We stick together, Scouts." Beans said coolly, cutting off Sans as he glared at the Argonian. She may have given Scouts the lead of this trip, but she wasn't going to let him go so far as to send Sans and Mora away. Turning to Momon, she said, "All we want to do is establish a trade route. Do you think the villagers will have a problem with us?"

"Perhaps…" Momon said slowly, clearly deep in thought. “If you displayed your adventurer tags more openly, the villagers may be more receptive.” With his thumb, Momon flashed the copper plate hanging around his neck at them. “Then again, most people would be terrified at the sight of undead.”

“Exactly,” Scouts nodded his approval at Momon’s words. “We can send the monsters back to the mountains to wait and finish this route together, my love. It would make for far fewer problems.”

“We’re not splitting up!” Beans scowled inside of her helm. Why was he so determined to send Sans away? “If you’re so concerned about appearances, Scouts, then we’ll go change our equipment.” Grabbing Sans by the hand, she dragged him towards the trees.

“My love, is that really necessary?” Scouts quickly stepped in front of her, holding up his hands to stop her. Beans pushed him out of the way with a little more force than she intended, sending the Argonian stumbling into the leaves. Mora, sensing his master’s sour mood, floated forward to follow her into the trees.

“You said it yourself,” Beans glared at him from behind her helm. “We don’t want to look like  _ monsters _ , now would we?”

~~~

Scouts fumed, watching his wife drag the skeleton away into the concealment of the forest. Was she seriously planning on exposing herself in front of that creature? If it weren’t for Scouts being so sure that it lacked the… equipment to take advantage of her, he would go crashing into the bushes and shove his dagger into those disgusting eye sockets. Yes, blinding him would be a good start. Their level difference be damned, Scouts was angry enough to chop off those bony hands and feed them to the wolves if they so much as gestured towards his wife.

“Is everything all right?” Momon asked, snapping Scouts out of his dark fantasies. Realizing the look on his face was less than pleasant, Scouts replaced it with a strained smile before turning back to the warrior, his maiden, and his beast.

“Yes, I suppose.” Scouts sighed. “Though I don’t like that my wife associates herself with such dangerous creatures. She can be a tad strange when it comes to monsters and won’t hear a word against them. Personally, I think they’re repulsive and have no place in normal society, don’t you agree?”

Momon put a hand on Nabe’s shoulder at the woman visibly bristled at Scouts’ question. Scouts wondered at that, then immediately guessed it was because his comment about his wife was less than complimentary.

“You think so,” Momon said, keeping his hand on Nabe, “yet you travel willingly with them. Why is that?”

Scouts thought about the question, sensing an opportunity. He would have to feel his way with this man, Momon, before he could be sure if it was there. “I am but a simple merchant. My wife’s strength gives me some peace, she has gotten herself out of many dangerous situations before. But I also know that she is clever, and those situations would never have happened if that undead wasn’t drawing so much negative attention to her. I worry for her safety, travelling alone with that thing. What would you do if your companion there was paired with such a creature?”

Momon looked down at Nabe and chuckled. Clearly the warrior was fond of this woman, Scouts gathered. “I would never put Nabe into a situation I did not think she was capable of handling.”

“Yes,” Scouts nodded, gently pressing further, “But if you thought there was danger to her?”

“It does not matter. If Lo- Sir Momon wills it, I will do it.” Nable proudly stated. Momon tightened his grip on her shoulder, silencing her once more.

“Hm, if I did think she was in danger, I would protect her, obviously,” Momon said slowly. Scouts sensed that the warrior knew where he might be headed with this conversation and waited.

Hearing no objections, Scouts asked, “And if you lacked the strength to do so?”

“What are you trying to ask, Scouts-Many-Marshes?”

“I’m only saying that I am the kind of man who would protect his wife,” Scouts smiled, internally delighted at Momon’s curious tone, “by any means necessary. Although I am not a man of strength, I do have a considerable amount of wealth at my disposal. I would pay a man’s weight in gold if it meant keeping my love out of harm’s way. Surely, you can understand that, even if you are the kind of man who can face his foes with swords in hand.” Scouts gestured towards the pair of giant, two handed swords crossing Momon’s back. “I’ve seen my fair share of weapons to know that only a man of experience can wield those effectively.”

Silence held their small clearing again. Even the horses seemed to wait for Momon’s reply. The dark warrior tilted his helm towards the ferns. “What would your wife have to say about this conversation?”

Scouts also looked towards the dark green foliage. Images of what could be happening just beyond them assailed his imagination. Remembering the note of concern in his wife’s voice when she and the thrall discussed Momon, Scouts mentally steeled himself. The warrior must certainly be powerful if it gave even his wife pause.

“Double the man’s weight,” Scouts lowered his voice, his red eyes watching Momon and Nabe for a reaction, “and my wife never needs to know.”

Momon held the chin of his helm, weighing the offer in his mind. Scouts knew it would not benefit him to break this contemplative silence. Instead, he listened anxiously for the sounds of his wife returning.

“My weight, or yours?” Momon asked after a considerable amount of time. Scouts smiled, showing off every one of his fangs.

“Yours, of course,” Scouts said, eyeing the giant man. His house in Solitude was filled to bursting with rare metal, alchemical ingredients, weapons and gems and gold that could easily fill ten wagons. Not to mention all of the things they had brought with to trade. His wife had hoarded all of their treasure, never spending, and she always gave generously to their children when they asked for allowances. She would never notice it was missing. “And I’m willing to pay a third of it up front. We can discuss the details tonight in the village tavern.”

~~~

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Sans frowned, following Beans into the concealment of the thick foliage. Brushing a giant fern out of his face, he pressed, “What about the big guy? Is going without your main armor smart?”

“If it was just me, yeah, it would be stupid.” Beans took her helm off, her hair pouring out of it like autumn leaves, and stored it away in her invisible pocket inventory. “But I’m not alone. I have you. If Scouts thinks he can send you away, then he’ll have to stop complaining if he thinks you’re protecting me.”

Sans smiled, a small amount of heat rising to his cheekbones as he watched Beans remove her gauntlets and boots. A tentacle slithered into his sight and wrapped about his skull. Mora had floated over to him, gurgling its disapproval. The show cut short, Sans rolled his eye lights and turned away. The cold tentacle retreated, but remained hovering close by in case he tried to sneak another peek.

“If there is a fight, I have perks, spells, and shouts that can buff my defense when I’m not wearing armor,” Beans explained, no doubt to reassure him. “Pure mage is not my preferred build, I don’t like having to boost my armor rating before going into a fight, but I didn’t master all the schools of magic for nothing.”

“Did you even bring a change of clothes?” Sans asked, turning slightly to see if he could catch even the smallest glimpse of ivory skin. Instead, he was hit in the face with a pair of gloves. A heavy, metal something hit him in the skull shortly after. Mora gargled with laughter while Beans apologized profusely for accidentally hitting him.

“Yeah, I did.” Beans said, picking the dragon priest mask off the forest floor. Brushing some stray leaves from it, she held it out for Sans to take. His eye lights saw once again the wine-red dress she had worn some nights ago to dinner, though she wore her usual silver and emerald pendant. Rather than the tiara, she wore a simple silver circled around her forehead. Noticing his gaze, Beans turned pink and explained, “I didn’t want to leave it behind, not after the girls picked it out for me. I enchanted it, and the circlet, too, the night before we left.”

“What about your sword?” Sans asked, noticing the blade missing from her hip. He felt his anxiety increase slightly to think she would be visibly defenseless.

“I’m never without a weapon, and I know I’m not easy to kill,” Beans winked her onyx eye at him. Sans felt his soul melt. Beans was leaning towards him, a smirk tugging at her pink lips. He felt his cheekbones flush blue as she got closer. Then she pulled the mask over his face, giggling. “What kind of look was that, Sans?”

“Eh, n-nothing.” Sans felt his whole skull heat up with embarrassment. Just what had he been expecting anyway? Infinitely thankful for the mask, he quickly changed the subject. “What about Mora? You got a dress for it, too?”

“Mora can turn invisible. Remember?”

“Um, no?” Sans adjusted the heavy mask so that the fabric didn’t bunch at the back of his skull and he could see clearly thought the thin eye slits.

“You don’t?” Beans’ thin eyebrows shot up into her loose red hair, then fell again as her brow wrinkled in thought. “That’s right, you never actually went to Apocrypha.”

“The place in the Black Books? No.” Sans shivered as he remembered when Beans had read them. Her form had gone all ethereal, black tentacles had come out of the book to bind her, and he had to wait for hours and hours for her to be released and return to tangible form. “And I don’t really want to read them myself, thanks. I’m not into that whole tentacle thing.”

“Yeah, they’re not exactly bedtime stories.” Beans looked at Mora, her expression thoughtful. “Mora, I know you can vanish from sight, but Arvak can’t. I don’t want to leave you guys behind, but maybe you two should stay in the forest while we visit the village. Just so we don’t scare anyone. From what Momon said, I don’t think the people in Yggdrasil are the kind to let us do what we want. I don’t think this place is like Skyrim, where I can get away with anything.”

“Tell that to Tullius.” Sans chuckled. “That guy acts like he’s got more issues than the damn lizard.”

“Speaking of, we should get back to Scouts before he gets upset,” Beans made to move back through the thick ferns. Sans reached out a gloved hand and grabbed her by the wrist.

“Hey, hold on,” he said, pulling her back. “About Scouts…”

“What about him?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Uh,” Sans thought quickly around all think things he actually wanted to ask.  _ Why did you marry a guy like that? Don’t you see how much of a jerk he is?  _ “What are we gonna do once we get this trade thing going? We’re not always going to be his guard, right?”

Beans looked towards the ferns, thought them, Sans knew, towards Scouts on the other side. “No, we’re not.” Chewing on her bottom lip, Beans glanced at Mora. “We can’t leave Mora with him as a guard, not if it scares the villagers. I only have one summon left with my triple souls perk, but nothing that might be effective and friendly. Maybe he can get some of the soldiers from Solitude to go with him.”

“Do you really think he’ll accept that?” Sans asked gently, thinking about the lizard’s attitude, and what Jordis had told him that night after a dinner that seemed so long ago. “The guy wants you by his side. I don’t think he’ll be happy to let us go on our way.”

Beans shook her head, as if banishing a thought. “I’ll talk to him. Tonight. We’re adventurers, right? And there’s a whole world for us to explore. We can’t keep walking the same path on some trade route.” Pulling her wrist from Sans’ grip, she caught his gloved hand and gave it a squeeze. “Besides, you and I have plans. I’ll think of something, trust me.”

Doing just that, Sans held her hand and followed her back through the ferns to the group.

~~~

Be’nseree was happy to be on the move again. With Nabe and Scouts leading the group, and Sans astride Arvak to guide the horses in the middle, Beans was stuck at the back of the group with the giant warrior Momon and the overly fluffy Wise King. She was glad for the space from Scouts at the moment, as he had been quite insistent that he help her back into her armor after rejoining the group with Sans. Her flat refusal, and her insistence that Sans would protect her if they should be attacked, had obviously ruffled the Argonian’s feathers.

“Where did you say you come from, again?” Momon asked politely, after their party had spent quite some time in an awkward silence. Sans glanced over his shoulder at Momon’s voice.

“It’s a city called Solitude.” Beans nodded, reassuring her friend that all was well. Sans looked forward again, just in time to duck a tree branch at face level. Picking her way carefully around a gnarled tree root, she asked, “What about you?”

“Far East.” Momon said vaguely. He seemed to have no intent on clarifying.

“Okay...” Beans felt awkward and ran her hand over a trunk covered in moss as she passed, relishing the soft touch. It was nice not wearing her armor for awhile, even if it did make her feel exposed. “So, you said you’re an adventurer, too? What brings you out to the village?”

“I was hired as an escort for an herbalist.” Momon leaned forward. Beans was almost sure he was trying to look down the front of her dress, until he said, “I see you don’t have any plates. What guild are you from, that they don’t require this?”

“Plates?” Beans looked once again at the copper tag dangling around Momon’s neck. It reminded her of a military dog tag. “What would I wear it for? We’re not soldiers.”  _ Although _ , she thought to herself, _ I think that’s only soldiers from my world. I don’t think the Imperials or Stormcloaks wear those either. _ “Anyway, none of the guilds I’m part of require anything like that. Though some of them have their own uniforms that they give to you when you join, but I never liked their gear quality.”

“Guilds? You’re part of many?” Momon gestured towards her companions, “Or do you mean you’re all from different guilds?”

“Just me,” Beans shrugged. Reaching up, she pulled a handful of oak leaves off of a passing tree and began to weave the stems into a bracelet. “Though Sans might have membership to them by association.”

“What are their names, if you don’t mind me asking?” 

Beans raised an eyebrow at him. This guy sure had a lot of questions, but it wasn’t as if he was asking about anything too personal. If she could actually get answers out of him, Beans might be able to find out if there was anything else of Skyrim that had made it to Yggdrasil besides Solitude. “Oh, you know. The Companions. The College. Even the Dark Brotherhood. What about you? You don’t seem like the kind of guy to join the Thieves’ Guild.”

“Just the Adventurer’s Guild, based in E-Rantel. Are all these guilds you mentioned based in Solitude, then?” Momon asked.

“Um, no. They’re in different cities.” Beans accidentally broke a stem on her leaf, and had to carefully undo her work to take it out. “Have you ever heard of Whiterun? Or maybe Winterhold?”

“No, I must admit I haven’t.” Momon leaned slightly to watch Beans work on her bracelet. “That’s what being an adventurer is about, right? To visit places you’ve never been before?”

“Exactly!” Beans smiled. Despite knowing that the guy was powerful, that Sans was wary of him, she felt herself warming up to Momon. He was surprisingly easy to talk to, even if he was a little awkward. Perhaps it was because he liked to listen, or because he seemed so interested in her. “You must know the feeling, of finding some new place or dungeon you’ve never been to before? Of delving right in, not knowing what you might find?”

Momon’s dark helm turned towards the forest canopy. “Yes, I know that feeling well.”

“I remember this one time, Sans and I were in this Dwemer ruin,” Beans chatted, excited to have someone to share a memory with who would understand, “and we were working on this puzzle in the boiler room to open the door to the treasury. But there were like, and I’m not kidding, something like twelve buttons, and you had to press a certain three - in order! - to open the door. All the rest were rigged to traps. Spike walls, spinning blades, fire spouts… Ah, and the enemies dropped out of the walls every time you got something wrong. We had maybe a dozen automatons already out and attacking us when I just started smashing those stupid buttons at random. Ha! I’ve never seen Sans conjure so fast. You think they’d leave some kind of clue to the pattern, right?”

“Did they?”

“Well, sure. We found it on this giant centaurion we killed by the treasury door. After we already got the door open, of course.” Beans chuckled, happily reminiscing. “At least it wasn’t filled with Falmer. Those things creep me out, and I usually like creepy things.”

“You are lucky,” Momon said quietly, “that your friends are still with you to go on these adventures.”

“Yeah,” Beans nodded, tying the last knot in her bracelet. She held it out to Momon, who took it tentatively. “Hey, you’re an adventurer too, right? Can I ask you something?”

“What?” Momon held up the bracelet to the slit in his helm, examining it.

“It’s about my… husband.” Beans tasted the word in her mouth, and found it slightly unpleasant. “It was his idea to set up this trade route. Don’t get me wrong, it’s necessary, but I think he might want me to travel it with him all the time. Maybe you can’t help, but can you think of anything that I could say to him?”

“Um, that might not be my place.” Momon pocketed the bracelet, his tone uncomfortable.

“I get that,” Beans sighed. “Sorry for asking. I just… I know I should probably be home more, but I like exploring. I like fighting enemies and finding rare things and… well, you know? I don't want to walk back and forth on the same road.”

“I do understand.” Momon nodded. “Perhaps you should tell him that? He is your husband, after all.”

“Yeah…” Beans drifted off, wondering. The marriage had been one of convenience, for her. She didn’t actually love him, though having him shower her with affection felt nice. It made her feel like she had a real family. Was that selfish of her? “I guess I’ll think about it more. Thanks, Momon.”

“For what?” The dark warrior sounded confused, “I didn’t give you any advice.”

“No,” Beans giggled, “but you let me talk about it. You’re an easy person to talk to, I feel. So thanks for that.”

Momon nodded, letting their party fall into silence again. Beans reached up and grabbed more leaves from another oak tree to start a new bracelet.

"Hm…" Momon drifted off, clearly lost in his own thoughts. The forest sounds filled the silence - leaves rustling in the breeze, birds twittered and hopped amongst the branches above them, curious about the passing party.

Thin beams of sunlight began to poke through the spaces in the high branches. The tree trunks likewise slimmed down and were spaced further apart; they were nearing the edge of the forest. Even with the village still just out of sight, Be'nseree could smell traces of wood smoke on the breeze. 

"Momon! Nabe!" A broad man with a full beard ran through the thinning trees towards the group, waving a greeting. "We were starting to get worried, with you running off like that -" The man skidded to a halt. His eyes widening in fright as he looked upon Arvak.

"It's okay!" Be'nseree stepped forward quickly before the man could draw his shortsword.  _ Mora, vanish before you're seen!  _ "Don't worry about the horse, he's friendly!"

A girlish scream erupted from their left. Beans looked and saw a young mage boy with trembling knees, gripping his wooden staff so hard his knuckles were turning white.

Next to Beans, Momon let out an exasperated sigh. "Just let me sort this out."


	4. Ch 4 - Dust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for continuing to read The Other Side! I hope you have a much fun with this chapter as much as I did writing it. Also, out of curiosity, would you all be interested in reading some one shots I've written for this story? They wouldn't change the story as it is now, but if you enjoy these characters and want to get a peak into their lives more, please let me know and I can work on posting these for you! Stay hydrated, lovelies!
> 
> Edit: Sorry for the chapter spam; I've gone and deleted the extra ones. I don't know why the site decided ch 4 should be posted 3 times. *shrugs * Everything should look normal now.

Ch 4 - Dust

After their initial fright at seeing a horse made of bone and smoke, and many, many assurances that it posed no threat, the adventurer group Swords of Darkness welcomed the newcomers with badly hidden curiosity.

Honestly, if it were not for his presence as Momon, Ainz was sure that the merchant group would have been attacked by the human adventurers. Even after he gave them his word that the horse would not harm them, they still watched the creature out of the corner of their eyes; their hands on their weapons.

There were questions about the horse (which they made sure to stay far away from) that Be'nseree was more than happy to answer. Then introductions and more questions for Be'nseree and Scouts-Many-Marshes. The humans had seen an Elf only once before, they were still rare except in the territories far to the South, and never a lizardman. The short, masked mage also drew their attention with his low voice and short stature, but the humans seemed to warm up to him the quickest. The bad puns that made Ainz groan inside had the other adventurers all laughing and clutching their sides. 

_ At least that archer is taking a break from hitting on Naberal. _ Ainz thought as he watched Lukrut, the thin, blonde pretty boy; unabashedly ask out the red-haired elf. The lizardman promptly shot him down, threatening the man. ( _ “That’s my wife you’re talking to!” _)

Despite the initial tense atmosphere, it ended up working out in Ainz's favor that the merchant party was unable to hide their undead horse. Ainz had originally made a flimsy excuse of sensing a monster in the forest when he rushed to Aura's aid, and here was ready made proof. Rather than suspect him, the Swords of Darkness respected him even more for sensing a wandering undead. It troubled Ainz that he didn't see where the tentacle monster had gone, but knew that it would not be good to point this out with the Swords of Darkness already so wary from the presence of the skeletal horse.

“So, are you like, their kid or something?” Peter, the broad, burley swordsman of the group asked the short, masked skeleton, gesturing towards Be’nseree and Scouts-Many-Marshes. Ainz saw Sans almost visibly bristle. 

“I’m older than you,” Sans gumbled, his low voice tinged with anger. “I’m no kid.”

“Yes, we’re setting up a trade route,” Ainz heard Scouts explain to the young mage boy, Ninya, and the bearded Dyne regarding their questions. With so many people talking, it was hard to keep track of one conversation.

“You just stay here, okay Arvak? I’ll be back soon to get you, so just stay with Mora.”

“My lovely Nabe, I’m so glad you’ve come back to me!”

“Go crawl in a hole and die, insect.”

“Ah- HEM!” Ainz cleared his throat loudly, silencing the group. “Not to be rude, but shouldn’t we get out of the forest and into the village?”

“Yes,” Be’nseree smiled, walking towards the edge of the forest with Sans at her heels, “I’d like to see this place!”

“I wouldn’t mind having a drink at the tavern before we start trading,” Scouts said with a meaningful look towards Ainz.

“I’m not sure they have a tavern, you know.” Dyne, the druid of the group, stroked his curly brown beard in thought. “They’re still rebuilding, after all. But if you’re traders, I’m sure they’ll have some kind of ale to offer you while you make a deal. Your supplies could be really useful to them.”

“Is that so? Well then, Momon, we’ll have to get together tonight someplace else so that I can pay you for your services.” Scouts nodded, leaving Ainz to gravitate towards Dyne to talk about the goings on of the village. Ainz heard him mention various wares, such as hammers, swords, and ore, that might be of use to the villagers.

“My Lord,” Naberal whispered to Ainz as they fell to the back of the moving group. “Forgive this foolish being of ignorance, but I don’t understand. Are we going to help the lizardman?”

“No, not now,” Ainz waved the question away. “Wait until we are alone and I’ll explain things.”

~~~

“Oh, wow!” Beans burst through the cool shade of the trees into the light of the noonday sun, the rays warming her pale skin. Fields of golden wheat stretched out before her, ripe stalks waving in the breeze. Small, green heads popped up from inside the fields to watch her run out into the grass towards them. She might not have seen any in Skyrim, but Beans knew enough fantasy lore to recognize goblins.

“Those goblins are part of the village.” Ninya explained, trotting to catch up to her and Sans. “They’re friendly, and help out. Enri told us. She’s the head of the village.”

“Monsters and humans, huh?” Sans’ voice trailed off, watching a distant goblin carry an armful of harvested wheat to a wagon with a human driver. Together, they loaded the wagon and shared a smile as they waved to Ninya, who returned the greeting.

“Yeah, I’ve never seen monsters live together with people before, but they do here. I thought something like that was impossible, but there you have it. And you married that lizardman. Maybe situations like this village aren’t as rare as I thought.” Ninya guided Beans and Sans to the dirt road leading to the village. A long, wooden wall rose up past the wheat, marking the start of the village proper.

“My love!” Scouts caught up to them, riding on the black and white mare. Behind him, Dyne tugged on the lead of the brown gelding to urge the beast to keep up. “The others are going to find some people named Enri and Nfirea who are out in the fields. Momon said we should wait for him at the tower.”

“That’ll be in the center of the village.” Ninya pointed towards a tin roof just visible over the top of the wall.

“Are those… Rieklings?” Scouts squinted at a pair of goblins guarding the gate to the village. Beans was surprised he knew about Rieklings at all, since he had never been to Solstheim.

“Those are goblins.” Dyne corrected gently, handing the gelding’s lead off to Beans. “Let me explain things to them, I don’t think they’ve ever seen a lizardman or an elf before. Good thing that undead horse wouldn’t leave the forest; I don’t think they would’ve let us in with it.”

“What’s a Riekling?” Ninya asked sweetly, his eyes sparkling curiously at Scouts. Scouts, at a loss for an adequate explanation, looked helplessly to Beans.

“It’s kind of like a goblin,” she explained to a fascinated Ninya, “but they’re pale blue and don’t really speak any language you’d understand.”

“Really? Do they help your village, like the goblins here do?”

“I’m sure if I asked them, they might,” Beans watched Dyne and the goblins talk, wondering if the Riekling tribe she befriended in Thriskmead Hall existed in this world. “Maybe if I can find them again, I’ll ask.”

“My love, do you really think that’s a good idea?” Scouts sighed, dismounting the mare to walk at Ben’seree’s side. He took the leather reigns in his hand to lead the horse as the goblins opened the gates for them.

“Why not? Solitude needs help building the road. The Rieklings would probably be glad to help if we gave them homes and trinkets. They love human things.” Pulling the rope lead to the gelding, Beans urged the stubborn horse through the gates. She nodded her thanks to the goblins, who watched them skeptically with their hands on their weapons.

“Whereabouts is this Solitude?” Dyne asked as the gates snapped shut behind them. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“It’s a city in the mountains.” Beans caught the eye of a passing village woman and her little girl and smiled warmly. The woman stopped short, shocked, and her child’s mouth dropped open at the sight of Scouts. The green scales on his chest caught the sunlight, and the child pointed them out to her mother.

“The mountains? I thought only the dwarves lived there?” Ninya looked over his shoulder at the forest, to the tips of the snow-capped mountain peaks poking up out of the far horizon.

“There are dwarves here?” Beans asked excitedly, thinking of Dwemer ruins to explore, full of treasure waiting to be found. Did the extinct race actually exist in the new world?

“No one in our group has ever seen a dwarf.” Ninya shook his head, surprised at how much enthusiasm Beans had for the subject. “We’ve only heard the odd rumor here or there from other adventurers in the guild.”

“Adventurer guild, huh?” Beans said thoughtfully, studying a teetering watchtower as they approached it. More villagers had come out of their squat, wooden homes to watch them pass, but she ignored them. Maybe she should visit this guild. If she was a member, she would be given quests. Ones to fight monsters, or spelunk dungeons. A ready-made incentive to explore the world with purpose and reward.

Rewards meant gold and items. Items could be traded. The horde at her house wouldn’t last forever, and she honestly didn’t want to sell more than she had to. Especially since she hadn’t found anything in this world yet that was like what she knew from Skyrim. If she couldn’t replace what she lost in trading, then that made things like alchemical ingredients, soul gems, and crafting material irreplaceable. They had just walked down a mountain and through an entire forest without her spotting a single plant she recognized. What if this world didn’t have anything at all that she knew?

_ Maybe the girls would like tending a garden while I’m away? _ Beans thought, wondering if her adopted children would find that a fun way to spend their time. If their garden was fruitful, she could offer to teach the young girls alchemy. Her store of potions was extensive, but would run out eventually if she had no way to replenish it. Granted, she had a plethora of healing spells, but potions definitely had their uses.

“Something wrong, my love?” Scouts asked gently, touching her shoulder and snapping Beans out of her thoughts.

“Oh, um, it’s nothing. I can tell you later.” Beans looked around, noticing the trickle of villagers, human and goblin alike, slowly gathering around them. She would have to think more about how to tell Scouts about her idea, in a way that wouldn’t hurt his feelings. _ I can’t very well tell him I hate escort missions. He seemed so excited about travelling together. _

Scouts narrowed his red eyes at her, trying to read her face. “Well, if you’re sure, I would love to discuss it with you over dinner. Just the two of us? I don’t think we’ve ever had a nice, quiet evening alone.”

Beans felt her face fill with heat. A date? It was a natural thing to ask, given that they were married, but Skyrim wasn’t a dating simulator and Be’nseree, as Norah, had never been on a date before. The thought terrified her. “Um, uh, hey! Is that Momon?”

Sure enough, the tall, dark warrior was approaching the tower with Nabe and two blonde humans. A girl with her hair in a loose braid pulled to one side, and a boy with bangs so long Beans couldn’t see his eyes.

“Wow, so it’s true!” The girl smiled warmly at them, holding out her hand to shake in polite greeting. “When Sir Momon told us that a lizardman and and an elf had come to the village, I didn’t really believe him at first! My name is Enri. This guy here is Nfirea.”

“Nice to meet you,” Nfirea shook their hands after Enri, nodding as they gave their names. He paused at Sans, staring at his mask, and asked, “Are you a lizardman too? Or an elf?”

“A-actually, it’s not lizardman,” Beans said quickly to deflect the question, “Scouts is an Argonian. Calling him a lizard is kind of rude.”

“O-oh! I’m sorry!” Nfirea visibly reddened at his error and bowed. “Please accept my apologies!”

“It’s no trouble, I can tell you didn’t mean any harm.” Scouts smiled, waving the apology away. His voice silky, he asked, “Perhaps, then, you won’t take insult if I ask if we could go someplace more private? I didn’t think we would have so many eyes watching us.”

“Of course,” Enri looked out at the gathering crowd of onlookers. “The villagers are only curious, but my house isn’t too far away. Sir Momon said you were traders? To tell you the truth, you couldn’t have come at a better time.”

~~~

Sans leaned against the rough, wooden siding of Enri’s house. Despite being the village leader, the girl didn’t have a home big enough for nine people (Enri had a little sister, Nemu, and a goblin bodyguard) so Sans was left outside with Nabe and the young girl while the others had their meeting inside the little hut. He was glad that Nabe wasn’t a talkative person. The sun was too hot without shade, his skull felt like it was boiling inside of the metal mask he had to wear; it was well past lunchtime, and at this rate he would miss dinner too. Sans was tired, hungry, and all around irritable.

“Hey mister, why are your horsies so big?” The little girl, Nemu, asked as she stood on her tiptoes to pet the large horses tethered to a wooden post. “And how come you got a mask on?”

The kid, on the other hand, hadn’t stopped talking since the meeting started almost three hours ago. It was becoming a serious test of Sans’ patience.

“They just got over being sick. You should have heard them before, they were a little hoarse.” Sans smirked at his lame joke. He may be cranky, but he knew that the kid wasn’t at fault for his situation and didn’t want to take anything out on her.

“Ugh, can you stop with the awful puns?” Nabe finally spoke, her expression like she had just smelled something rotten.

“Nope. You can’t mask this sense of humor.”

Nabe scoffed in disgust, muttering about insects and crushing them beneath her boot. Sans grinned. Irritating her somehow made him feel better.

“Are you like mister Ainz? Are you a mage too?” Nemu petted the gelding’s nose, tickling it with a piece of grass she had plucked from beside the house. The horse sneezed and Nemu let out a squeal of surprise as she got sprayed with snot.

“Who’s this Ainz guy?” Sans held a gloved hand up to make a small amount of shade over the eye slit in the mask. He wondered again if he should just walk to the other side of the house and nap in the small sliver of shadow there, but dismissed that thought once more. If something happened with that Momon guy, and Beans needed his help, he was going to be ready. He also reluctantly banished the thought of using his magic to create shelter. If the humans freaked out from seeing Arvak, he doubted they would be thrilled to see his conjured bones. It was all too obvious the Swords of Darkness had been relieved when they left the undead horse behind.

“Only the greatest caster ever!” Nemu bounced on her heels, telling him the story of how this magic caster named Ainz Ool Gown came and saved their village as it was being attacked. As she told her story, she acted out some of the parts, running around and jumping in the dirt to show Sans how Ainz had squashed all the mean soldiers. Picking up handfuls of dirt, she tossed it at enemies only she could see, squealing with glee, “And he destroyed them like this - boom! I didn’t see that up close, cuz me and Enri were hiding in this magic bubble he made to protect us, but there were all these flashing lights!”

“Sounds great, kid.” Sans sank into the hot dirt, wondering how he could get out of the sun for a bit. There were waterskins with their camping supplies, but he was sure all that water was warm by now and wouldn’t do anything to cool him down. He had never learned elemental magic, and so could not cast Frost to make anything cold. What if he just stepped into the house for a bit, to get something cool to drink? Actually, he didn’t know why he didn’t think of that before. 

Getting to his feet, Sans brushed the dust off his robes and moved to push open the door. Nabe immediately stopped him, her hand gripping his arm tightly. “Lo- Sir Momon said he didn’t want to be interrupted.”

“I think he meant by other villagers.” Sans tried to brush her arm off, but Nabe only tightened her grip.

“I won’t allow him to be interrupted.”

Sans pulled his arm back, noting how much force he had to use to break Nabe’s grip. He narrowed his eye lights, checking her Love again. 63. Not as high as Momon, but definitely someone he didn’t want to fight if he didn’t have to. Even with all the enchantments and protection Beans had put into his equipment, Sans knew he had abysmal defense and couldn’t take many direct hits without Beans to heal him; all his stats were in dealing damage and his special skill perks.

“I just want some water,” he argued, trying to slide past Nabe to the door. Again, she blocked him.

“Know your place, worm. You stay outside.”

Anger boiled the marrow in his bones. Sans had been taking crap this whole trip from that stupid lizard just because he existed. Out of respect for Beans, he had swallowed his irritation and contented himself with just annoying the cold blooded jerk. Now he was getting called a _ worm _ for wanting to get a glass of water? Who did this bitch think she was, acting all high and mighty? 

“Look,” Sans materialized his blue tongue to give him something to bite and keep the anger out of his voice. “I’m just thirsty. Can we not do this?”

“You are not doing anything, that is the point.”

“I just want to pop inside quick and I’ll be right back out.”

“Don’t worms eat dirt? Go find some mud to drink.”

Sans felt the fire of his magic heat up his left eye socket. Screw this. Why should he take any crap from a woman he barely knew? He was going to pin this stick-in-the-mud into the dirt and go where he felt like going. Right now, that was inside, out of the heat.

“I can get you something to drink!” Nemu offered innocently, unaware of the tension searing the air between Nabe and Sans.

“Sounds nice. Why don’t you go somewhere far and find it?” Sans felt his magic envelop his gloved hand. He waited until the little girl had run off, out of harm's way, then raised his hand to fight.

~~~

The meeting had been interesting at first, at least enough to hold Beans’ attention. Somewhere between confirming the first few shipments of goods and visit schedules, Beans felt her dark eyes glaze over and the voices in the hot room became a dull hum. She was grateful beyond words that Scouts was taking care of all this, because trading was definitely tedious. Even when it had just been clicking a button to sell things, it had only been something Beans had done to clear up inventory space with the stuff she had absolutely no use for. Enri had even been so kind as to give Scouts a new shirt, and Beans found herself counting the loose threads on his collar as he talked. Hopefully it looked like she was paying attention as they debated taxes or tariffs or whatever they were called.

Dull thumps hit the house, the impact knocking a clay pitcher off of a shelf and sending it to certain doom on the dirt floor. The crash of shattering pottery and Enri screaming in fright woke Beans up from her stupor - those were fighting noises.

“Sans!” She shouted, knocking her chair over as she jumped up and ran outside. Momon was close behind her, his hand on the hilt of one of his massive swords.

The outside of a house was a whirlwind of magic and chaos. Bones rained into the dirt like bullets, chasing Nabe as she dodged Sans’ attack. Lighting struck out from the woman’s hand, missing Sans by a hair as he teleported away. The wayward bolt crashed into the dirt near the horses and sprayed clods of dirt in their eyes. The beasts whinnied in fright, pulling at their bonds until the ropes holding them to the posts nearly snapped. The post gave away first. Panicked, the horses tried to flee the fight. They pulled in opposite directions, running in circles, dragging the thick piece of wood between them and throwing dust into the air. Somewhere distant, a villager screamed in fright at the spectacle.

Sans and Nabe continued throwing attacks at each other. A flurry of bones flew out of the dust and destroyed the side of a nearby house, almost collapsing the building. One of the bones hit its target, and Nabe cried out in pain and surprise. She shot another bolt of lighting into the cloud. A loud thump of a body hitting the dirt announced her strike had found its mark. 

“That is enough, you two!” Momon shouted, his voice commanding. 

“Harmony!” Beans yelled, both of her hands glowing bright white with the master Illusion spell. After the three seconds it took to charge, a wave of ivory light washed over the area, calming all creatures within its radius. The horses stopped running around and the dust settled. The bones stuck in the dirt and walls had all vanished.

Nabe sat in the dirt, holding her arm and the glowing blue bone still sticking out of it. Sticky, red blood dripped into the dirt and turned it into copper-colored mud. Sans lay in the road not too far from her and Beans rushed to his side.

“Sans! Sans, are you okay?” She pulled him into a sitting position, panic twisting her guts. Her hands quickly patted his face and chest, searching for any signs of injury. To her immediate relief, she found none. The robes had protected him.

“I have to hand it to her,” Sans held up a gloved hand, a hole burned through the center of it where he had caught the bolt. Beans watched in horror as the glove slowly collapsed into the dirt, dust leaking out and drifting away on the wind. “She packs a punch.”

“Ah, ah! C-cure Other!” Beans grasped the stump where his hand had been and pulled it close to her chest, her shaking hands glowing with golden light.

“What happened here?” Momon asked as he approached, his voice low and dangerous.

“Him, my Lord.” Nabe pointed with her uninjured arm at Sans. “He tried to get into the meeting and attacked me when I stopped him.”

“I just wanted a glass of water!” Sans shouted, becoming angry despite the effects of Harmony. His newly formed hand gripped Beans’ tightly; she squeezed back in relief.

“So you attack her?” Momon shouted. He moved like he was going to attack Sans himself, but stopped as if he, too, had been caught in Harmony’s effect. He said, much more calmly, “I think this is more than just a glass of water. You and I both know you don’t need it.”

“Who are you to tell him what he needs?!” Beans jumped up, placing herself firmly between the advancing Momon and Sans. “If he was thirsty, why didn’t Nabe let him inside?”

“We both know he doesn’t need it.” Momon stepped in close to Beans, invading her personal space, staring her down through the slit in his raven black helmet. She could see red lights flashing just beyond the opening. Behind Momon, Nfirea and the guard goblin pulled Enri back inside the house.

“Of course he does, he’s a living being!” Beans gritted her teeth in anger. Her soul roared; a rage she had never known before electrified her body now that her panic had subsided.

“Both of you, please, calm down!” Scouts pleaded to them and attempted to help Nabe to her feet. She smacked his hand away and glared. “Look, this is obviously a misunderstanding. My love, if you could heal this woman, we can talk this out.”

“I will do that myself,” Momon growled and continued to stare Be’nseree down. Tense seconds ticked past, and when no one made a move to attack, Momon turned and went to Nabe’s side. He produced a red potion from inside his cloak and offered it to her. Gratefully, she drank, and the wound vanished along with the bone stuck inside. Momon waited until he had gotten Nabe to her feet, then said to her, “Stay here. Do not do anything else. If you’re attacked again, you come straight to me.” Nabe nodded her understanding. “Good. Now,” Momon turned to Be’nseree, “You and I will talk. Away from here. I do not want a crowd.”

“Sir Momon, should I-”

“You stay here.” Momon cut Scouts off, his tone commanding. “And keep the other one here too. You, elf, come.”

“Beans-” Sans grabbed the skirt of Beans’ dress to stop her. The concern in his voice dowsed the flames of rage inside her. She helped him up from the ground and brushed the dust off his robes. “Beans, I’m sorry, I did something stupid -”

“I’ll take care of it,” Beans said, her tone much colder than she meant it to be. Sans flinched as if her words physically struck him. “I’ll be back. Just wait here.”

Leaving his skeletal hand handing in the air, Beans turned and followed Momon away from the main houses and gathering crowd. They did not go far, Beans could still see Sans watching her and Scouts attempting to disperse the crowd.

“So tell me,” Momon drew her attention with that same dangerous tone, all the more threatening because of how calm he sounded. “Why the lies? I bring you to this village, help you, and your undead attacks my companion?”

“He is _ not _ an _ undead _.” Beans hissed, wanting to make that point perfectly clear. “He may be a skeleton, but he is living. He needs water, and food, and sleep just like you and me.”

“I highly doubt that. Even if it is true, that doesn’t change that he attacked Nabe. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you or run you out of this village.”

_ I’d like to see you try! _ Beans seethed, gripping her hands into tight fists. _ You want to kill me? You’re lucky I didn’t kill your woman on the spot for hurting Sans! _

_ But the people in Solitude need this _ , a small voice in the back of her head reminded her. _ They’ll starve without a trade route, and we don’t have time to travel to a far city with only three horses to carry food. I can’t kill this problem. _

_ What should I do? _

“Everyone makes mistakes.” Beans sighed and tried to swallow her anger, knowing that she had to do whatever she could to salvage the situation. “I know what Sans did was wrong, regardless of the circumstances, but he doesn't have a malicious bone in his body. It's not like your friend was any better. She hurt him, too."

“Is that so? You think that makes us even?” Momon crossed his arms, contemplating her. A long moment passed before he said, “You seem to forget that I'm keeping a secret for you. If these villagers knew what your friend was, they would not trade with you. Worst case scenario, they would attack you. The Swords of Darkness reacting to that horse of yours should be proof enough. Maybe I will forgive you for this mistake, but if you want my silence..."

"Are you trying to blackmail me?” Be’nseree narrowed her eyes, her bright voice becoming dark. “I wouldn’t do that.”

“I suppose I am.” Momon said sarcastically. Clearly he was mocking her, and that pissed Be’nseree off more than anything. “Unless you have a better offer?”

“I do!” Her beast blood was close to boiling. She wanted to pummel this guy into the ground for thinking so little of her; of Sans and Scouts and all the people of Solitude by implying that he could ruin everything they were working for. “Fight me. Just you and me. We’ll brawl, and if you lose, then you keep your damn mouth shut and leave my family alone!”

“...and if I win?”

“Then you can have every piece of gold I have!” 

Momon raised a finger to his chin, thinking about her offer. “That seems fair. After all, you appear to be quite wealthy, being a merchant’s wife. Are you planning on fighting me here and now? I doubt that it would help your cause if the villagers saw this. They happen to respect me.”

“Tonight,” Beans clenched her fists tightly, imagining herself putting several dents in that raven black armor. “After dark, you and I will meet outside the village past the wheat fields. No magic, no weapons. Just our fists.”

~~~

Ainz watched the angry elf storm off. As he followed, Ainz attempted to cultivate the idea that had come to him during their conversation.

_ I should contact Aura and Demiurge as soon as possible. If I get all the pieces in place, I can win no matter the results of this… brawl, she called it? _ Ainz had to wonder what exactly she meant by banning weapons and magic. From his previous experiences with combat in this world, he was confident in his physical strength, even if he was just a magic user.

_ The match itself shouldn't be an issue. After all, those angels I fought at this village did hardly any damage, despite their holy magic being effective. If that's the highest level this world can offer, I shouldn't have anything to worry about. Still, this is a match of strength, so just in case I lose... _

His actions would be very different if this woman was a player, but Ainz was positive she wasn't from Yggdrasil. 

As he approached Naberal, Ainz noticed that she had sat back in the dirt and nursed her already healed arm. Finding this strange, he checked her HP as he offered her his hand.

It was steadily falling. This surprised Ainz, since her build made her incredibly resistant to poisons, which was the only effect he knew that could cause continuous damage like this.

_ Could it be some kind of necrotic damage? _ Ainz wondered and looked over his shoulder at the masked Sans. The small girl, Nemu, had returned with a pitcher of water. Sans thanked her and slipped the lip of the clay vessel under his mask to slurp the entirety of its contents. Ainz was dumbfounded. If he had attempted something like that, the water would have spilled straight through his jawbone and down the front of his armor. _ Slight change of plans. _

“Beans, a word?” Ainz called out to the elf. She glared at him. Having just returned to Sans’ side, Beans seemed reluctant to leave once again, but Scouts approached her and urged her in hushed tones. Whatever Scouts said seemed to work, because she soon stomped over to him.

“What?” Beans snapped, her black eyes narrowed at him.

“It seems Nabe is still taking damage from your friend’s attack.”

“Your point?” 

Ainz sighed in frustration. “So, how about another deal? You heal her and stop whatever status effect this is, and I’ll help smooth things over for the moment with Enri and Nfirea.”

Be’nseree eyed him shrewdly, the light catching the silver circlet on her head. Without a word, she knelt in the dirt and held out her hands to Naberal. Golden light filled the space between her fingertips and trailed into Naberal. Watching Naberal’s health bar, Ainz saw the magic fight the status effect and, slowly, overcome it and heal her completely.

_A warrior with healing magic?_ _Scouts mentioned earlier that she could heal, if I remember right. _Ainz wondered what an all out fight might be like against such an opponent. _Even with my emotions getting suppressed, I was so angry from the attack on Naberal that I might have made a powerful enemy. If things had gone differently, if the skeleton had kept himself in check, I might’ve tried to add this elf woman to Nazarick._

“Are you better, Nabe?” Ainz asked and once again helped Naberal to her feet.

“Yes, my Lord.”

Curious about the effect, Ainz couldn’t help but ask, “What was that status affliction? Some kind of poison?”

Beans rose to her feet, a smirk on her lips as she studied Naberal with her black eyes. “Karma’s a bitch, isn’t it?” Her slender hips swaying, Be’nseree held her head high as she returned to her fellows across the road.

_ Of course, I could never let those that would harm Nazarick to go unpunished. _

~~~

“Ah, what a day!” Be’nseree sighed and let herself slid down a tree trunk to rest on its roots. It felt nice to be back in the woods, out of sight from villagers. Momon was good on his word to her, and had spent the better part of the evening helping her and Scouts smooth everything over with Enri, Nfirea, and the goblin guard. The trade route was still a done deal, for now.

“It did have a way of working itself out, didn’t it?” Scouts fetched supplies for their dinner from the mound of food bundled to the black and white mare. The cauldron was already out, along with many of the other camping supplies they had taken time to set up. With only two horses that they could bring to the village, the mare and gelding were loaded with as much foodstuffs as they could carry; flour, dried meat, easy to grow root vegetables like potatoes and carrots. The village still owed them more food in exchange for the tools, pelts, and weapons they had traded, but Scouts would have to return with more horses before it could all be brought back to Solitude. “Despite that unsightly display, I’m glad Momon decided to help us with that. The villagers clearly think highly of him. Especially that Nfirea fellow.”

“You went too far with what you said earlier, Scouts.” Beans frowned and took a pile of potatoes from Scouts to cut up for a simple stew. Pushing her long, red hair out of the way, she set to work with a small knife. The light was fading fast out in the fields, and faster in the woods. She cast Magelight on the cauldron for light and used Telekinesis to gather wood from the clearing for a fire. Once it was lit with a well placed Flame spell, she took her knife back up and said, “You should apologize to him. He’s not just some random mercenary we hired, he’s family. And he’s not unstable or violent.”

“Well, how would you have explained it?” Scouts eyed the short, masked skeleton tending to the horses. Sans was busying himself with transferring the rest of their supplies, the goods the villagers didn’t want, to Arvak, to lessen the burden on the brown gelding, and added nothing to the conversation. “A glass of water is a poor excuse to start a fight, if you ask me.”

“Don’t. Just, just don’t.” Beans sighed, tired, and dropped her cubed potato into the black cauldron Scouts had set between them on the roots of the tree. “Whatever you want to say about Sans, keep it to yourself for once.” Out of the corner of her eye, Beans saw Sans stiffen at the sound of his name. Grabbing the leads for the horses, he led them further into the shadows of the forest. Beans watched him leave with pain in her heart.

“Let him go,” Scouts said gently, taking her pale hand in his green, scaley one. “It’s only right that he’s ashamed of himself for causing so much trouble. You’re right, let’s stop talking about business and just enjoy each others company.”

Be’nseree took her hand back, staring at the shadows. “It’s not right. He shouldn’t blame himself for what happened. If anything, it’s my fault.” Her head sank, her line of sight dropping to study the stitching on her black boots. _ Something I wrote in his personality made him this way. It’s not his fault. _

“My love, how could it be your fault?” Scouts set his cooking tools aside and put his hands on her shoulders. Gently, with one hand, he raised her gaze to meet his, his red eyes sparkling with the blue glow from Magelight. “You’re far too hard on yourself. You do so much for others, you give so much of yourself. Even when your thrall made a mistake, you fixed it. He was conjured to do your bidding, was he not? Let him think on his actions and relax.” Scouts leaned in, closing the distance between them. “We can use this time alone, you know.”

Beans watched Scouts get closer, saw the tips of his fangs as his lips parted. She felt his hot breath on her skin, his scaled hand running through her hair and touching the sensitive tip of her ear. Her heart fluttered in panic. She didn’t want this. 

“I-I have to go meet Momon,” she blurted out, stopping Scouts before he could kiss her. The Argonian pulled away, confused.

“Whatever for?” The brown feathers on his head twitched irritably, the firelight dancing on his curled horns.

“We have a deal,” Beans said quickly, standing up. “I told him I’d meet him just after dark. I’m sorry, I can’t do this right now.”

“Is this about the thrall?” Scouts asked, his voice gravelly.

“N-no.” Beans didn’t know why, but she had a strong instinct to not tell Scouts about her planned brawl with the dark warrior. “Momon’s still mad about the fight. We’re just going to talk is all. I’ll be back before dinner is done, okay?”

Scouts studied her face, looking for something. With a sigh, he said, “Of course. I understand. Don’t keep me waiting too long, my love.”

Dodging around the trees, Be’nseree made her way towards the forest’s edge. The sky was quickly losing its golden glow to a dark, steel blue stained with ink and dotted with the first early stars. The singular, waning moon was already climbing into the sky to cast its feeble light into the deepening night. Cursing under her breath, Beans focused on the edge of the wheat fields and set off at a jog, holding the wine-red bell of her dress in her hands to keep her feet clear. She had wanted to double back and talk to Sans, but she would be late if she did that.

She had also wanted to change back into her armor, but there wasn’t time for that, either.

_ I’ll just have to use the gauntlets, if nothing else. _ Beans thought as she kept a sharp eye out for Momon’s figure in the falling darkness and reached into her invisible inventory. _ The dress has heavy armor enchantments on it, so it should do for a fist fight, but I definitely need the gauntlets. _

Beans wasn’t sure which field Momon had planned to meet her by. Holding the gauntlets to her chest with one arm, she cast Clairvoyance. A light blue trail only a yard long, thin like a thread, pointed her north. She cut around the village, through a field of wheat, and jogged up a hill. Close to the top she banished the magic and slowed to a stop, spotting the large, square shoulders of Momon as she crested the hill. The warrior turned to face her, still in his full suit of armor, and nodded a silent greeting.

“Where’s Nabe?” Beans asked, pulling her black, spiked gauntlets on as she walked down to meet him. The red veins running through the dark metal pulsed with blood-colored light as they made contact with her skin.

“She and the Wise King stayed behind,” Momon pointed towards the village, the tall walls just out of sight beyond the hill. “I didn’t want us to be interrupted.”

“Good.” Be’nseree lifted her gauntlets, tightening her fists. All of her thoughts melted away in anticipation of the fight. Her blood and soul sang with excitement. “Let’s do this.”

“You aren’t going to wear your armor?” Momon asked and drew his swords. Spinning them just once, he stabbed the giant blades into the dirt at his sides and drew his own fists up to match her stance. “And there is no magic or weapons for this, correct?”

“Don’t need it.” Be’nseree hopped from one foot to the other. Momon didn’t know it, but the gauntlets she wore had an enchantment on them that increased the damage of unarmed attacks. It was a helpful spell that sped up a lot of the Companions’ quests. Paired with perks from the Heavy Armor skill tree (including one that turned her gauntleted fists into weapons, therefore allowing them to be affected by other perks) and her fists could do as much base damage as her sword before its magical effects. Sometimes, back in the old world, Norah had come back home after a long, frustrating day at her job, booted up Skyrim, and vented by punching every enemy to death. 

“Giving me a handicap, are you?” Momon hummed thoughtfully and slowly closed the distance, keeping his knees bent. “I’ll return the favor. You do remember our agreement for whoever wins?”

“Shut up and fight!” Be’nseree growled, charging Momon. When she was only a few feet away she jumped, charged her power attack, and punched the warrior square in the jaw. He spun and fell back on the ground several yards away from the force of her strike.

Determined not to let him off easy, Be’nseree ran and jumped on his chest. Sitting on top of him, she grabbed the scruff of his cape, pulled him close, and released a flurry of punches with her right arm.

“Don’t! Threaten! My! Family!” She punctuated her blows with the words, the metal she struck with her gauntlet groaned and dented with each strike.

Momon’s fist swung up from the side, clocking her in the ribs and breaking her hold. He swung again and she fell off of his armor. Rolling in the dirt, Beans gasped for the wind that had been knocked out of her and clutched her side. 

A dark boot swung from the darkness as Momon kicked her. Beans rolled several feet and groaned. It hurt, and she wasn’t used to pain. Walking over, Momon picked Beans up by the front of her dress and lifted her off the ground. “I should say the same to you. I really wanted to kill you and your friend for what you did to Naberal, you know?”

“Don’t you touch him,” Beans coughed, tasting blood. This guy hit hard. 

“If I kill you here, who’s going to stop me?”

Gritting her teeth in rage, Beans held her fists together and brought them down as hard as she could on the arm holding her in the air. With a satisfying crack of metal and bone breaking, Momon dropped her, his arm bent at a bizarre angle. He yelped in surprise and staggered back.

She wouldn’t let him recover. Rushing him again, Beans punched as fast as she could, fully utilizing Dual Flurry to rain blow after blow into Momon’s chestplate. With a squeal, the armor gave and her next fist punched a hole straight into his armor.

There should have been blood. Resistance from flesh. All Beans felt was bones breaking and air as she pulled her fist free, dust flying from the wound, the metals from her gauntlets and his chestplate screeching as they dragged against each other. She didn’t care. She aimed the next blow for his head.

Something snapped in her mind, a lost connection that made her pause and check herself. A presence that had been there no longer was. Before she could figure it out, Momon swept his leg out at her feet and knocked her to the ground. He stood, holding his hand over the hole she had made, and backed off.

“That’s enough,” he said, his broken arm hanging at his side. “I’ve taken enough damage. As much as I hate to admit it, you win.”

Panting, Be’nseree got to her feet, still mentally searching for what had caused the lost feeling. Seeing Momon return to his swords, she snapped back to the moment and cast Cure Wounds to rid herself of the pain. Clenching her fist, she prepared to cast Dragonskin.

“I’m not going to keep fighting you, so there’s no need for that.” Momon nodded at the green magic pulsing in her fist, waiting to be released.

“You know the deal.” Beans lowered her fist and dispelled the magic. She watched Momon turn from her slightly, hiding the hole in his armor, to retrieve a potion from the inside of his cape with his good hand. What color it was, she couldn’t see in the thick dark. “You leave my family alone, or next time I’ll kill you.”

“Agreed. And next time those I care about are hurt, and you’re to blame, we fight for real.” Not turning his back on her completely, Momon drank the potion and stored the bottle back in the folds of his red cape.

The fight over, Be’nseree felt all her anger wash away. The fire in her blood was quenched. Their brawl may have been short, but this Momon had survived her, which was more than any of her foes in Skyrim could say. Curious, Beans asked, “So does everyone in Yggdrasil have a level as high as you, or are you some kind of special case?”

Momon froze. Even his cape had stopped moving in the breeze. “...what did you say?”

“I’m just thinking,” Beans shrugged, “you know, if we both keep to our word, maybe we don’t have to hate each other. I’d like it if we could fight again, but not in a way we try to kill each other.”

“What do you know about Yggdrasil?”

Beans blinked, confused by the question. “That’s the name of your world, isn’t it? Or maybe you only know it as the name of a tree… Whatever. If you want to talk again, find Scouts when he comes to the village. He’ll be doing his trade route, after all.”

Momon stared at her, seemingly at a loss for words. Since it seemed like he wasn’t going to say anything, Be’nseree turned and climbed the hill back towards her camp. With the raven warrior behind her, Beans instead turned her thoughts to that strange feeling she still had.

The beast blood was her first thought. Looking up at the single, pale moon, she ruled that out. The sight of the celestial orb stirred a call within her and she could feel the transformation at the edge of her mind, waiting for her to surrender to it. Shaking her head, she jogged down the hill and into the field of wheat. Holding out a hand, she plucked one of the ripe stalks and picked the seeds from it with her claws on her gauntlets, dropping the pods to the ground.

What else was she connected to? She had no link she knew of to Sans or Scouts, so it couldn’t be them. Besides, if they were attacked, Sans and Mora would be more than enough to-

Beans gasped. Searching her mind, she found no trace of the mental link that connect her to Mora or Arvak. Maybe if it was just Mora, she could reason that its conjure time was up and it went back to Apocrypha. But Arvak had yet to disappear on his own, so that didn’t make sense. Her summons were not bound by a time limit in this world. Dropping the wheat, she sprinted through the field towards the glowing firelight of their camp, pulling her Daedric sword from in inventory.

Bursting through the trees, Beans stopped just short of the fire. Magic crackled in her left hand, her sword held at the ready in her right.

Scouts jumped at her sudden entrance, dropping the wooden spoon he held into the cauldron over the fire. Eyeing her weapons with wide eyes, he asked, “Is everything all right, my love?”

“Where’s everyone else?” Beans asked, casting Candlelight and heading towards the spot Sans had disappeared into the trees. The bluish-white light bobbed merrily above her head, banishing the shadows.

“Not the _ thrall _ again!” Scouts huffed, following her through the trees. “He’s been sulking ever since you left, I haven’t seen him at all-”

“Sans!” Beans called out. She had reached the horses tied to a young oak. The mare and gelding looked up, curious. Their camping supplies were scattered across the ground, like they had been dropped. “Arvak! Mora! Where are you?”

“Probably left.” Scouts crossed his arms and scanned the area half-heartedly. “I would have too, if I had embarrassed myself like that.”

“No, something’s not right.” Beans quickly walked the perimeter, searching the trees for any signs of which direction Sans had taken. “I can’t feel Mora or Arvak anymore, and Sans wouldn’t just _ leave. _ I know he wouldn’t!”

“You can’t feel…?” Scouts stammered, “T-the monsters probably just wandered off. Without you here, it’s not like they had a reason to stay around-”

“They wouldn’t!” Beans snapped, taking a knee on the forest floor. The dirt and leaves looked undisturbed, at first glace, but that seemed off. Horses had been walking here; Sans, too, if he had come this way. Looking closer with the aid of magical light, Beans noticed small needles, like quills or spines, reflecting the light. They stuck out of the grass and leaf litter like they had been shot into it. Reaching out, she plucked one from the dirt and popped it in her mouth. 

Behind her, Scouts sneered in disgust as he watched her chew. “What on earth are you doing that for?”

“I taste… Damage health and magicka. Poison damage and… paralysis.” Beans couldn’t name what the ingredient was, but now she had a hunch of what had happened here. Looking around, she could see disturbances in the fallen leaves, ripped up clods of dirt and claw marks on roots. Rounding on Scouts and clenching her sword tightly, Beans growled, “You must’ve heard something, Scouts, anything at all!”

“I didn’t, my love,” eyeing the cruel-looking sword in his wife’s hand, Scouts’ green face paled. “Honestly, I don’t know what you mean!”

“They’re _ gone _ , Scouts! Arvak and Mora didn’t just disappear, they were _ killed. _And Sans... “ Beans felt her heart tighten at the very thought. Whipping around, she looked for dust and a pile of mage robes scattered among the leaves. 

“Maybe this is a good thing,” Scouts said cautiously, reaching out to gently touch her arm. “Our life was so much more difficult with those things around. Look at what happened in the village! Don’t you remember the looks on those human’s faces when they saw your undead horse? They were terrified!”

“I think Sans was taken.” Beans said, ignoring Scouts and shrugging his hand away. Stabbing her sword into the dirt, she then grabbed the bell of her dress and pulled the fabric over her head.

“Oh, I’m glad you’ve seen reason.” Scouts smiled, his eyes wandering over her body. “Though to be honest, I thought our first time together would go a little differently…”

“Don’t be stupid!” Beans snapped, stowing the dress and silver circlet away in her inventory. Removing all of her armor onto the forest floor, she glared at Scouts and began pulling it on. “I’m going to find him.”

“My love, be reasonable!” Scouts cried out in protest, trying to stop Beans from pulling the Daedric chest piece over her head. “We have a chance for us, why would you throw that away? If he really did get taken, why should you be the one to bail him out of trouble yet again?”

Slapping his hand away, Beans pulled her heavy armor on. “I’ll remind you,” she scowled, pulling on her boots, “of a time when we first got married. You got kidnapped by bandits. Should I have just left you to sort it out yourself? Or do you think you could’ve handled it?”

“That’s completely different!” Scouts shouted, his face twisting in anger. “I don’t have any skill with the sword, or magic! I’m a trader!”

“And that’s why I need to go find my partner!” Beans shouted back, her hands clenching her helmet tightly. “Because when someone I care about is in trouble, I help them! I protect them!”

“What about me? Do you not care about me at all, if you’re going to run off and leave me unprotected?” Scouts hissed, his eyes narrowed. “Am I worth so little to you?”

Glaring, Beans donned her horned helmet. Holding up her now free hands, she clenched her hands into fists and summoned twin whirlwinds of amethyst colored magic. From their depths stepped two Dremora Lords. One with a two-handed longsword, a giant version of her own blade, and the other had a spiked warhammer on his back. Both wore black, spiked armor with red veins of magic, just like her own. Their skin was charcoal black, and identical pairs of twisted horns sprouted out of their heads by their pointed ears.

“These two are the most powerful warriors I can summon.” Beans growled. “They’ll protect you on your way back to Solitude and down to the village. Understand?”

“Yes, my Lady!” The Demora Lords chorused, taking a knee and bowing to their master.

“Y-you can’t be serious!” Scouts stammered, looking at the warriors in disbelief. “Are you really going to leave?”

“I’ll be back.” Pulling her sword out of the dirt and sheathing it at her hip, Beans turned. “I care about you, Scouts, but I have to do this. He’s my best friend. I’ll meet you at home.” Leaving Scouts with the Dremora, Beans ran off into the dark forest, the Candlelight bobbing eerily above her head.


	5. Ch 5 - Vanquisher

Ch5 - Vanquisher

There was something comforting about the forest in twilight. The squeaks of bats, the cool fog slowly covering the ground like a blanket, and the deep shadows that made hiding all too easy. Of course, Aura could see into these shadows as clear as day thanks to her night vision, but almost nothing could see her. Exceptions existed, of course, like Lord Ainz ...and that demonic elf woman.

“Y-you okay, sis?” Mare, Aura’s twin brother, asked from their shared hiding spot in the shadows of a large maple tree. Aura nodded, focused on the small light of a campfire some distance away. Her ears twitched as she listened to the muffled voices.

“I’m just worried.” Aura admitted in a whisper meant only for Mare. Normally, she would never admit any fear, but this was her brother. He may be timid, but he always had her back. “That woman found me once before. What if she spots us?”

“That is why you have us,” A smooth voice answered. Demiurge laid a comforting hand on Aura’s shoulder. With a nod, he gestured towards the black light that Mare’s staff emitted. “No one can see through Perfect Unknowable. Lord Ainz would not have you do this alone, not after last time.”

Aura felt her cheeks burn at Demiurge’s implication; that she had failed their master by being caught. Of course, the greatest and most merciful of the Supreme Beings didn’t see her blunder for what it was, but perhaps that was why she insisted on being a part of this mission. 

“How much longer, Demiurge?” Mare asked quietly, glancing at the distant firelight. “Keeping this spell up for all four of us is starting to drain my MP.”

“Not long,” Demiurge twitched his long tail in anticipation. “We must be patient. Lord Ainz has presented us with the opportunity. We mustn’t waste it.”

“Movement,” Aura muttered, tense, watching the dark ferns rustle some ten yards to their right. Her brother matched her body language and Demiurge’s hand tightened on her shoulder. Through the foliage stepped the short skeleton, his skull hidden in a mask, and the three horses he led.  _ Lucky us; I thought it was the woman.  _ Aura readied herself for action, her feet shifting ever so slightly as she prepared to pounce. The hand on her shoulder squeezed. Looking up, she saw Demiurge shake his head. Not yet.

“Well, I fucked up.” The skeleton chuckled bitterly as he tied the two living horses to a young tree. The undead horse snorted, nuzzling its jawbone into the folds of the mage’s robes. The mage pet the skeletal horse’s smokey purple mane and removed the carved, metal mask on his own skull. Tucking the mask safely away into the folds of his robes, the mage sighed and gave the undead horse a gentle pat. “Not much else I can say, buddy. Shouldn’t have lost my temper.”

“Is he… talking to the horse?” Demiurge mumbled, peering thoughtfully at the mage. Mare shrugged.

“I’ll make it up to her.” The short skeleton smiled broadly to the horses. A curious expression, since he didn’t have any facial muscles; yet it was clear he smiled. “Beans is always getting me out of trouble. Do you think she’d like a gift? I know she likes treasure, but what could I get her that she doesn’t have? ...would flowers be too much?”

“You could leave and stop causing her so much trouble.” Another voice hissed. Aura’s ears twitched as the lizardman parted the ferns with a scowl on his face. The mage’s smile instantly fell.

“I don’t think so.” The mage grumbled, crossing his arms. “Unless Beans says so herself, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Beans has left,” The lizardman snapped, “to talk things over with Momon. To fix  _ your _ mistake.”

Demiurge nudged Aura and Mare, nodding towards the trees to the left and right. His directions were clear. Mare went left, Aura to the right. Stepping lightly, Aura closed in on the mage and the lizardman; close enough that she could see the fury on the lizardman’s face and the creases in the mage’s robes.

“Your very presence threatens all we work for. Even Momon admits it! You’re nothing but a hindrance to us.”

“Speak for yourself.” The mage rolled his eye lights. “A cold-blooded jerk like you doesn’t even care about Beans.”

“She is my  _ wife. _ ” The lizardman’s fists tightened threateningly. Aura tiptoed through the dead leaves towards where her beast was hiding in the shadows. It purred at the sight of her and shook its mane. She stroked its leathery wings to keep it quiet. Even with Perfect Unknowable active, it never hurt to be too careful.

“So you like to remind me!” The skeleton threw his hands up in frustration. “But you don’t know anything about her, do you? You don’t know any of her skills or abilities or anything else. All you care about is what you want.”

“What I want is what’s best for her! If she would listen to me, she would be much happier!”

“And you think you know what’s best?” The mage’s deep voice growled. “Who are you to tell her what to do? I’ve known her way longer than you, buddy, and even I don’t know that.”

Aura looked to the maple tree that Demiurge should be under. Because of their separation and Perfect Unknowable, she could no longer see him, but once the spell was dropped…

“My wife, as amazing as she is, has an unhealthy obsession with monsters,” The lizardman sighed, “but once you’re gone, I will help her get better.”

“I’m not leaving.” The mage’s left eye became lit up with blue fire. “You don’t know what us  _ monsters _ have done for her. What she’s done for us. Name one thing you know about her, stupid lizard. Anything at all. Prove me wrong.”

“I know she is wrong about YOU!” The lizardman shouted, the feathers on his head bristling, his lips curling back into a sneer over his fangs. “You better watch your back, you ungrateful draugr.” The lizardman stomped off through the ferns, viciously whacking the plants with his tail as he passed. The skeleton rolled his eye lights and returned to the undead horse, fiddling with something in the saddlebags.

“Stupid lizard,” he grumbled. “Would’ve been nice if I had just attacked  _ him _ instead of that Nabe chick.”

Aura looked to the maple tree. Demiurge’s form was visible.

It was time.

She leapt onto the back of her beast, burying her fingers into its long mane. The manticore roared, leaping towards the mage with a nudge from Aura's knees. Their prey turned in surprise. The skeleton's eye lights widened in fright.

Opposite the fray, Mare's staff glowed bright green with magic. The earth undulated, knocking the skeleton mage prone on the ground. The living horses whinnied in fright and pulled at the ropes tying them to the tree. The undead horse, however, did not seem to know fear and charged at Mare, braying a war cry.

"Use your sting!" Aura commanded her beast. The manticore lifted its massive scorpion tail, firing its stingers. The mage's eye lights flickered with fear and he disappeared with a pop. The stingers rained into the ground where he had just been. A few of the projectiles hit the living horses and they fell to the ground motionless. Behind her, Aura heard another horse scream as it died.

"Dimensional Lock!" Demiurge leapt into the scene, casting the spell that would prevent enemies from teleporting away. The mage reappeared at once, several feet from where he had been, with a cry of surprise and fell to the forest floor. Demiurge and Aura rushed him.

A pulse of sickly green energy hit them. The manticore stumbled, growling in pain. Near the mage the air shimmered and a creature appeared. It gurgled menacingly, clenching and unclenching its long, thin hands. Its tentacles writhed, its frame shivered, and four more of the creatures appeared.

"Thanks, Mora!" The mage leapt to his feet, summoning a cloud of bones, his left eye socket shrouded in intense blue fire. With a wave of his hand he hurled them at Aura and Demiurge, pummeling them. Aura winced as she took damage, feeling her HP dropping even after the bone had struck.

"Magic shield!" Mare cried, his staff glowing with blue light as he cast a protection spell for his allies. One of the many tentacles creatures turned and floated towards him, blasting waves of magic. Mare squealed in fright. 

Aura leapt from the back of her manticore, drawing her whip. With a loud crack! she split the tentacle monster heading for her brother in two. The creature's form shivered and dissipated.  _ They're illusions! _

Sliding to a halt in the dirt, Aura and Mare attacked the tentacle creatures as they swarmed with whip and magic alike. The two illusions disappeared like the first had, with just a shimmer in the air. With another crack of her whip, Aura struck at the real monster. It bellowed a strangled cry and turned to dust. 

Demiurge fought the skeleton, using his long claws from Aspect of the Devil to parry the magical bones the mage sent flying at him. With each blow he knocked away, the Devil seemed more and more winded. Something about the skeletons attacks was still damaging him. A status effect? Aura elbowed her brother, prompting him to take action.

"Mass Middle Cure Wounds!" Mare held his staff out, sending golden light to his allies. Aura felt her HP going back up despite the effect still eating away at it. Demiurge lashed out at the mage with his tail, forcing him to retreat towards the manticore.

Aura brought her fingers to her lips. With a shrill whistle, she commanded the beast to attack. The manticore lifted its scorpion tail and fired another flurry of spines at the mage's back. With his teleportation disabled, he couldn't dodge, and the attack struck. Groaning in pain, the mage finally fell motionless to the forest floor.

"Are you all right, Demiurge?" Mare asked as the twins trotted over to the devil. 

"It did give me some trouble, I admit." Demiurge brushed the wrinkles out of his pinstripe suit. "I can see why the Supreme One was so curious about him. Still," with his foot, Demiurge flipped the mage onto his side to better look at his face, "capturing him was harder than I anticipated."

"What about the lizardman?" Mare asked, walking over to the firelight just beyond the dark of the woods. "Should we kill him?"

"Our orders were to leave these two alive." Demiurge pushed his round glasses back up his nose. "Aura, how long will the paralysis last?"

"A few minutes. Much longer, if the stingers stay in."

"Good. Mare, use your magic to clean this place up. We're to make it look like the skeleton wandered off. Aura, return to the lizardman in his camp and relay the message I told you earlier."

"What about the horse we killed?" Mare asked as his cast his magic to erase the signs of a struggle. Aura went to the living horses to remove the spines and check that they were still alive. "And there are items all over the ground."

"Leave them." Demiurge approached the skeleton. With his shoe, he nudged its skull to make sure the paralysis was still in effect. With a sneer he said, "The skeleton obviously threw them off when he took the horse. As for the other monster, it simply wandered off, as far as the others will know."

While Demiurge cast Message to Shalltear, Aura picked up the short skeleton as easily as a sack of potatoes and threw him onto the back of the manticore. That part of her job complete, she made her way towards the firelight. Mare jogged over to her, holding a had over his skirt to keep it from ruffling in the wind. “Sis, I’m going with you. I’ll cast Perfect Unknowable again and make sure you’re okay.”

“Thanks, Mare.” Aura smiled as she watched her brother vanish in front of her eyes. Feeling much more confident, Aura parted the ferns and approached the firelight.

The lizardman did not notice her approach. Instead, he grumbled angrily as she stirred a cauldron over a fire. “...doesn’t think I know anything. Of course I do! She likes jewels, of course. Has a whole chest bursting with them… And making things. She’s always making things...”

Aura cleared her throat. The lizardman jumped and spun on the spot, dropping the wooden spoon he was holding into the dirt. His red eyes narrowed as he took in her scaled suit, focusing on her pointed ears. “Don’t I know you?”

“No,” Aura felt her cheeks flush, remember the state in which she had first seen the lizardman. Her face in the dirt, paralyzed… “You don’t need to know me. But you saw me, once.”

“Ah, yes! I remember now.” The lizardman smiled. It was genuine, warm. Completely different from his attitude earlier. “You were lost in the forest. Do you need help, little one?”

“I’m not lost!” Aura clenched her fists. He treated her like a human child, and that pissed her off. “I’ve got a message for you, so shut up and listen and be grateful that I don’t kill you!” When the lizardman closed his mouth and said nothing, she continued. “You’re to keep your mouth shut about this, you hear? Momon kept his end of the bargain, so you better keep yours.”

“He’s dead already?” The lizardman’s brows jumped towards his feathers in surprise, and then he smiled. It was sinister, how much satisfaction radiated from that smile. “Well, I did warn the thrall to watch his back. Can’t be helped, I suppose. Was it painful for him?”

Demiurge had warned Aura of the nature of the contract, but for this man to be so obviously pleased gave Aura shivers. Not because of his actions, those she could care less about. She was afraid because if she didn’t do this right, and the elf woman in black armor found out… Well, she wouldn’t think about that. She wouldn’t fail.

“It doesn’t matter.” Aura crossed her arms and squared her shoulders. “What matters is you keep quiet. Momon doesn’t want his reputation tarnished with this, and it’s going to shine brighter than the sun. Understand?”

“Of course, of course,” The lizardman nodded, his horns catching the firelight. He bent to retrieve the spoon from the dirt and brushed it off before sticking it back into cauldron to resume stirring. “I know how to be discreet. My wife will never know about my deal with Momon. I swear on my life. Ah! I suppose Momon will be wanting his payment." Leaving the spoon in the cauldon, he made towards the ferns. Knowing that Demiurge, and possibly Shalltear, might still be working, Aura stopped him.

“You can stay here.” Aura thought quickly, trying to improvise. Should she paralyze him too? She had a spell, but it wasn’t as powerful as manticore venom. “We’re, uh, cleaning up. We had to kill the undead horse and that tentacle creature, too, since they attacked.”

“You got rid of all of them?” The lizardman smiled. He looked like he could kiss her. “Wonderful! I couldn’t be more pleased with Momon. This is definitely a good thing, so don’t worry about it at all. If you look among our items, you should find a bag of jewels. Take them and whatever else you like. I do ask that you leave the foodstuffs, though. Please tell Momon that if he needs anything, anything at all, he always has a friend in Solitude. I know the Jarl there personally and would be more than happy to introduce him, if he is interested in those kinds of connections.”

Lord Ainz definitely would be. Making a mental note of this, Aura asked, “What is their name?”

“Jarl Elisif. She is actually High Queen of Skyrim, since she was married to the late King.”

Aura hesitated. She did not like, or trust, this lizardman. It would be safer to kill him, but that went against her orders. Besides, if she came back to Lord Ainz with a way to be introduced to this world’s queen, she would be praised.

"You should probably go," the lizardman smiled again as he added sticks to the fire, "before my wife returns."

That was something she could agree with. Aura retreated into the dark forest to rejoin her brother; his form shimmering into sight. A large, purple vortex, Gate, was waiting for them near the two tethered horses. Both animals were still on the ground, groggy, but were recovering quicky from the paralyzing effect of the spines after their removal. Shalltear and Demiurge were nowhere to be seen. They must have already transported the skeleton to Nazarick. Taking her brother's hand, the two elf children passed through the vortex together and back into the Great Tomb.

"-sure you want it on your floor?" Shalltear asked as she fanned her pale face with her hand. Upon exiting the closing Gate, Aura found herself walking through air thick with shimmering heat - the 7th floor. Rivers of lava and geysers of fire populated Demiurge's domain. Even with Aura's resistance to flames, this floor always made her sweat.

"Of course." Demiurge snapped his fingers at a pair of demons. Lust and Wrath began to strip the skeleton mage of his gear and wrap him in heavy chains while the manticore paced behind them. "Lord Ainz said the creature was called a 'living dead’ by its companion, but it's appearance suggests a weakness to fire. All precautions must be taken so that it cannot escape."

"If you think so, then that's probably right." Shalltear shrugged, her eyes wandering over the skeleton on the ground; over its naked bones and the manticore spines sticking out of its back bones. "Unfortunately I can't stay to join the fun. My orders are to return to Sebas and Solution. It seems the human has taken the bait and I’ll be sorely missed if I’m late. Aura, dear, do try and not screw up anything for Demiurge, won't you? You've already caused enough trouble by being caught."

Aura clenched her fists at the jab. "Don't you mess up anything for Sebas either, Shalltear. I'm sure some that stuffing in your dress ended up in that empty head of yours."

"Me? Cause trouble?" Shalltear laughed, her padded chest bouncing. "I am the strongest of the floor guardians, after all. I'm sure if anything happens I'll be the one getting  _ them _ out of trouble."

"Shouldn't you be getting back?" Demiurge asked Shalltear, his tail twitching irritably. Their petty squabble meant nothing in comparison to their Lord’s plans. Shalltear nodded gracefully, cast another Gate, and departed. Without wasting more time, Demiurge said, "Mare, I need you to get the Azgaur Leeches before our guest can overcome the paralysis."

Mare nodded. With the ring of Ainz Ool Gown on his hand, he teleported away.

"Aura, how much time do we have left?" Demiurge asked as he appraised the naked skeleton on the hot stone floor. "Another round of the spines shouldn't deplete its health too much before I start my experiments."

Aura whistled for the manticore, who obeyed and shot the mage with its poisonous spines. "That should buy you plenty of time, Demiurge. Do you need my help with anything else?"

"That's more than enough. Thank you, Aura." With a devilish grin, Demiurge picked up one of the skeletons arms and tugged on it. "I'm going to enjoy this research for Lord Ainz. Tell me, Aura, do you think it needs positive or negative energy to heal?"

From the question, Aura could hazard a guess at what kind of experiments Demiurge wanted to perform. "I dunno, negative?"

"See, I would think that as well." Demiurge peered into the mage's eye sockets, studying the motionless, white lights of its eyes. "Although the spell Lord Ainz saw the elf woman use suggests otherwise… The notion that it also needs food, water, and sleep is quite curious indeed."

"Demiurge, here!" Mare reappeared with a pop, holding a large jar to his chest. The inside squirmed with giant leeches; their slimy, green bodies as big as a housecat. Due to Aura's animal handling, she was assigned with attaching them to the skeleton. The Azgaur Leeches were already large, but they would continue to grow as they fed on the skeletons magic, so Aura chose the shoulder blades as the best place for their serrated teeth to bite and anchor their thick bodies. 

With the leeches firmly attached, the Lust and Wrath demons picked up the skeleton and took him further into the 7th floor until the fires completely obscured their figures. 

"Y-you're not going to kill it, right?" Mare asked nervously as Demiurge mumbled to himself. No doubt, Aura thought, of all the things he wanted to do, and prioritising which to do first.

"Of course not," Demiurge waved the suggestion away. "To do so would defy our orders. However, Lord Ainz did not specify anything else, and that leads me to believe he wants to test my information gathering abilities. Yes, I think I'll start with removing that arm," Demiurge walked in the direction his demons went, his tail twitching excitedly. "Perhaps I'll have enough time to try sleep deprivation and see if that drives it insane, or starvation…"

"Let's go, Mare." Aura jumped onto her manticore's back and offered her hand to her brother. "It’s too hot here."

"Y-yeah. I'll take us to our level." With a pop, the two elves and beast disappeared from the 7th floor.

~~~

The forest around Be’nseree was quiet and dark, save for the occasional owl call through the night. The high elf took deep, calming breaths, focused her thoughts on her goal, and once again cast Clairvoyance. The soft, blue light encircled her left hand, the thin thread of light creeping out East... then West. Then North. Then West again. Then back where she had come from. Beans cursed and banished the spell.

“Why, why won’t you WORK!?” She shouted to the treetops, an echo of thunder behind her voice that spooked a nearby raccoon. Sans should be close by, the spell should find him. It found Momon just fine. The only time the spell glitched out was when the terrain was too mountainous or the goal was too far away. It was why she had never fully relied on the spell except for certain situations, such as to find people or objects inside a building or the immediate area. The quest marker had always been guide enough before.

Quest markers didn’t exist anymore, though, so what else could she do?

Beans knelt in the fallen leaves, holding her helmed head as she racked her brains for an answer. All of Norah’s gaming and coding knowledge, her understanding of glitches and mechanics and more, came up with nothing. It seemed like so much fun before, to explore this world without a guide. Now that her best friend was missing, relying on her to find him, she realized how much she had needed those markers. 

Her eyes stinging, Beans looked up and gazed around for some kind of clue. Something that could guide her. All she saw was the darkness pressing in around her. Branches reached out to her, like creeping tendrils, threatening to strangle her…

With a jolt of fear, she recast Candlelight. The bright, joyful blue light bobbed on top of her head, banishing the darkness. Beans shivered as she recalled her dream from when she had first slept in the forest. The hungry, dark fog; the crimson eyes and dragon’s roar as the world shattered. An idea struck her and Beans jumped to her feet, the Candlelight jumping to follow.

Ohdahviing was her first thought. But even if she shouted for him, he would most likely be too far away to arrive quickly. There was one other she thought of, but she couldn’t summon him with all of these trees around her. She had to get to the plains as quickly as possible. Beans needed a horse.

Should she go back and take one from Scouts? No, he needed them to carry the supplies back to Solitude. Beans thought of Arvak, of the broken connection, and wondered if she could still summon the undead horse after he had perished. This world had different rules, after all; she had learned that with her fall from the cliffs and the extended time for her conjured creatures.  _ Still,  _ she thought as she summoned the amethyst aura of magic to her hand,  _ it couldn’t hurt to try. _

She released the magic into a whirlwind, waiting with her breath held. Through the magical storm came Arvak, tossing his purple, smokey mane and snorting. Beans cried out in delight and rushed the undead beast, hugging his bones close to her as her eyes burned again.

“I’m so sorry, buddy,” she whispered, stroking his neck bones and burying her face in his mane. He smelled like charcoal and rot, but it wasn’t unpleasant. “I’m sorry I left. Are you okay?”

Arvak nickered and nuzzled her with his boney jaw. Relieved, she gave him another hug before jumping onto his back. “Glad to hear it. Now we need to find our other skeleton friend. Let’s go!”

Kicking his sides, Beans spurred Arvak into a run. They raced through the trees, hooves kicking up leaves and dirt. The undead horse just barely managing to dodge the thick trunks as they were illuminated by Candlelight. Thinking of Sans again, Beans cast Clairvoyance once more and banished it quickly when it started to glitch. No matter. Once she was on a dragon’s back, riding across the lands, she would keep casting until the spell locked on and she could follow it to the end.

A wolf howled up ahead. Thinking of the pack, Beans turned Arvak that way. The howl sounded again, closer, and a giant wolf burst through the darkness. It was an ugly, inky black, with chains slithering around its body. Its maw opened wide to chomp down and drag Arvak to the ground.

“Fuck off!” Beans yelled at it, casting Lighting Barrage. A flurry of bolts shot from her left hand, consumed the beast, and turned its body into glowing ash. She didn’t have time to deal with a low level monster, whatever that beast was, or loot its body. 

The trees thinned. Arvak burst out onto the plains, the cool night wind whipping at his mane. Beans slowed him to a halt and dismounted. She couldn’t see the village anymore, but could guess its direction.

“Okay, Arvak, I need you to listen.” Beans took the horse’s skull and looked into its empty eye sockets. Pointing with one hand, she directed, “If you ride that way, you’ll find the village. Just inside the forest, near a fire, is where Scouts is. You need to go back and find him. He has Dremora Lords with him now, and they’ll protect you.”

The horse studied her for a moment. At least, that’s what Beans guessed he did, and then galloped off into the night. Hoping he would be alright, Beans turned to the empty grasslands and searched her memory for the Words.

“Dur neh VIIR!” She shouted to the ground. The grass bent back from the force of her Shout and the purple light of summoning opened a giant vortex in the ground. From it came a mottled, green claw, followed by a wing, then the four horns of the dragon’s head and his serpentine neck. Climbing onto the grass, the vortex dissipating at his feet, Durnehviir breathed deeply and gazed at the sky.

“It has been some time since you last called for me, Qahnaarin,” Durnehviir grumbled, his voice a low bass that vibrated Beans’ bones. “It is good to smell fresh air again, but this does not have the scent of Tamriel. Why is that?”

“I can explain everything in the air. Right now, I need to fly.” Beans approached the dragon. “You will let me ride you, right?”

“I am always grateful for my time outside of the Soul Cairn,” Durnehviir lowered his head so Beans could climb onto the spot behind his four horns. “Where do you wish to go?”

“I don’t know.” Beans admitted sheepishly as she held onto a pair of horns. The wings on either side of her stretched out to catch the winds off the plains. She noticed the holes and tears in them, and the sick, green color reflected by Candlelight. “I’m going to figure it out.” As Durnehviir beat his wings to climb into the sky, she cast Clairvoyance again. The spell glitched, but it seemed to hold onto the Eastern direction a little longer than the others. “Let’s circle the area for now in growing loops. I’ll let you know otherwise. Thank you, Durnehviir.”

“There is no need for that. You have my thanks every time you release me from my prison.” The dragon’s low voice vibrated the flaking scales beneath Beans. Some caught the wind and blew away. “I would give anything to be like this always.”

Thinking of Arvak, Beans said, “Maybe that can happen.” After all, the horse came from the Soul Cairn as well, and he hadn’t vanished until he had died. Looking up at the waning moon, Beans wondered if that meant Durnehviir would stay, too. What would she do with the dragon, if he didn’t return to the Cairn? Would he be alright with living in the mountains around Solitude, protecting the city, and her family, from whoever took Sans? Perhaps he would, if she let him see the world first. Freedom meant a lot to the dragon. To all dragons, it seemed like, as she recalled Ohdahviing telling her how much more if it he had serving her.

“If you can make it so, then you would have my eternal loyalty.” Durnehviir breathed deeply from the sky, relishing the feeling of wind in his wings and moonlight on his decaying scales.

~~~

Demiurge hummed joyfully to himself as he examined his work bench. Gazing at the slab of steel, he wondered which tool to use first. The long hooks, for pulling brains out from the nose, or the giant scissors, for severing limbs? Surely not the razors; his prey had no skin. Of course, he could easily repurpose them, but he had to remind himself that doing too much damage right away could potentially kill the creature. There were two potions, a red and dark green, waiting to be tested, but those would come later.

"Let's start with that arm, hm?" Demiurge smiled, picking up the large, ebony scissors. The devil's smile turned into a sneer as he turned and contemplated his prey.

The skeleton, chained so his short stature was high enough off the ground to look Demiurge in the eye, groaned and tried to raise his skull. The paralysis had worn off, but Aura had informed Demiurge earlier that her manticore's spines were also poisonous and the mage would have suffered damage. That, and the Azguar Leeches had already swollen to three times their normal size as they gorged themselves on the skeleton's magic. They were as big as the skeleton itself, now! It puzzled Demiurge, that an undead should have such a vast pool of MP; the only other who could compare would be the Supreme One. 

"You are an interesting specimen, for sure." Demiurge felt his tail twitch in excitement as he lifted the shears to the skeletons chained left hand and snipped off two of its fingers; the pointer and middle. It gasped in pain, gritting its teeth to hold back a scream of pain. The reaction sent a shiver up Demiurge's spine. The boney fingers, curiously, did not fall to the floor as a single piece. Rather, it immediately turned to dust while the stumps leaked blood. Some of the dust stuck to the skeleton's bones. Demiurge reached out and swiped a finger along the back of its hand. Feeling the dust and sweat between his fingers, Demiurge hummed thoughtfully. "An undead that sweats and bleeds…?"

Turning back to the table, Demiurge selected the dark green potion. Uncorking the glass bottle, he offered it to the skeleton to drink. 

"It will heal you, or should. Do you get thirsty, as My Lord says?" Demiurge smiled at the skeletons skeptical look. "I would take it, if I were you. I do not offer generosity twice."

"Something about your idea of generosity seems off, buddy." The skeleton grinned and wiggled what was left of his hand. "I can't quite put my finger on it."

The joke angered Demiurge. Grabbing the skeletons jawbone, he jerked its mouth open and forced the neck of the bottle into its throat. It choked on the potion, spitting liquid magic back out onto the devil and onto his pinstripe suit. Thank goodness magic didn't stain. 

The skeleton shuddered; it's shoulders sagged and its limbs twitched. What it had managed to swallow was causing damage rather than healing. So negative energy wouldn't work, after all. No matter. There was the red potion to try.

~~~

The sun began to rise as Beans focused her attention on her spell. In the hours they had circled the sky, it seemed to be glitching less and less, holding onto one direction as Durvehviir carried them over plains soaked in heavy fog. 

Without her saying anything, the dragon started to slowly sink from the sky, his breath coming in great, shuddering gasps.

"Durnehviir?" Beans asked, placing her gauntleted hand gently on his neck. The dragon continued to fall, the wind picking up as his wings trembled and failed. Fearing death as the ground raced up towards her, Beans shouted, "Feim zii GRON!"

Durnehviir crashed through the fog into the ground, tearing a scar in the earth as his body ripped up dirt and stone. Because of the shout, Beans tumbled harmlessly to the earth, even though she felt like a ball someone had thrown. Shaking the dizziness from her head, Beans climbed to her feet and ran back to the dragon. 

"What's wrong?" She asked, using her hands to dig the dirt away from his head, fearful for the majestic creature. Looking at the dragon, she needn't have asked.

Right before her eyes she could see Durnehviir's body decay. His scales flaked and fell to the ground like sickly green snow, his emerald, cat-like eyes clouded with pain. Parts of his wings fell off and turned into glowing ash that carried on the wind.

"Ah! H-healing hands!" Beans felt her hands shake as she pressed them to Durnehviir's body, the glowing light sinking into his flesh faster than she could conjure it. Switching to a stronger spell, Cure Wounds Other seemed to halt the decay, but did not cure it.

"Qahnaarin, it is my time to return." The dragon sighed, his deep voice trimming through his body into her hands. 

"No! Not yet, I need you!" Beans held up her right hand and cast Guardian Circle. A ring of golden light roped around their bodies. Guardian Circle would heal all creatures within its boundaries and, combined with her Atronach ability, would replenish her dwindling magicka. That, paired with her dual cast Cure Wounds, finally seemed to restore some of Durnehviir's body. "Arvak stayed, why shouldn't you?"

"The horse?" Durvehviir laid his massive head on the ground, pillowed by the upturned dirt. "He does not live as I do; he does not remember what it is to be alive. My soul has been trapped for too long. I cannot survive outside of the Soul Cairn, my body does not remember how."

"Yes, you can!" Beans mentally pushed at her magic, willing more to flow into the dragon, to heal him. Her magicka, already low from maintaining Clairvoyance, was draining to the point of empty despite the Circle and her ability. The progress she made on his body was starting to reverse. The decay was catching up and starting to dissolve the dragon's body. Beans thought of using a healing potion, but what was the point if the magic didn't stick?

Guardian Circle flickered and vanished after it's time was up. Completely drained of magicka, Beans could only watch as Durnehviir's body slowly turned into glowing ash. How could that be, that his body didn't remember how to live? She wanted him to stay, wanted him to remember. If she could gift him that knowledge, like how others had gifted her their understanding of Words, maybe things would be different.

Beans remembered what it felt like to die. When she fell from the cliff, she remembered the pain of her body breaking; of her heart stopping and the light of the world fading. She also remembered when Resurrection took effect - How if felt when her heart jumped to life and her still blood started to flow once more.

Wind picked up around Beans as she remembered that feeling, a cyclone of her memories of turning back to life, and rushed into the dying dragon. With a deep, shaking breath, Durnehviir accepted her gift of knowledge and the decay stopped.

"You really are Dovah," the dragon sighed, looking at Beans in tired admiration, "in all but body."

Beans removed her spiked helm, not believing her eyes. The dragon's body was only half there, she could see bones and muscle through the patches of missing scales, but she had saved him. Setting her spiked helm in the dirt, she activated her racial ability: High Born. Feeling the magicka cascade back into her veins, she dual cast Cure Wounds Other. This time, her magic did not fight decay and Durnehviir’s body slowly mended as she poured her magicka into healing.

“Qahnaarin!” Durnehviir growled in warning. Beans couldn’t turn in time and was struck in the back. Stumbling, she grabbed her sword from her waist and turned towards the heavy mist.

Undead shambled towards her. Zombies and skeletons with rusted, bloody weapons. Her attacker, a soldier with a rotten face and sunken, glowing eyes, raised its chipped, iron sword to attack her again. Beans raised her blade, parried, and struck. The zombie’s body was easily sliced in two, it’s body wreathed in frost magic that turned its flesh to ice. More undead replaced the first; a crowd was quickly growing.

“Dammit, I don’t have time for this!” Beans growled and sliced through bodies, her red hair dancing in the air, trying to keep the horde away from Durnehviir. The enemies dropped quickly from the physical damage, their bodies consumed by fire, ice, or lightning; but more kept coming and Beans had no magicka left to fight with. Even Durnehviir was forced to raise his exhausted head and bite at the undead surrounding them.

If she ran, Beans might be able to get away with Whirlwind Sprint. The horde might focus on the weakened Durnehviir, and she could go after Sans. She could summon Durnehviir after she had gotten out of this mist, and they could fly again, even if she had to force him with Bend Will. With a yell, Beans beheaded a zombie, disgusted with herself for having such ideas pop in her head. How would she live with herself if she left; knowing that the undead would slowly kill the dragon she had just worked so hard to save?

“-DAH!” A shout tore through the mist, knocking Beans to the ground and pushing Durnehviir into the dirt. Beans felt herself land on something hard and pulled her Daedric helm from beneath her. Shoving in back on her head, she looked up and saw the Draugr Deathlord raise its ebony sword.

Rolling to the side, Beans narrowly avoided the two-handed weapon as it buried itself in the dirt where her head had been moments before. More draugr came from the mist; higher level undead than the zombies they had just been facing, and faster.

“Durnehviir, we gotta go!” Beans jumped to her feet and slashed at the Deathlord. The undead stumbled from the massive damage, but did not fall. Dozens draugr swarmed her, attacking with swords, axes, and warhammers. Their numbers would overwhelm her if they stayed any longer; she was already taking damage.

“I need more time,” Durnehviir snapped at a draugr, shaking it like a dog shakes a rat, and threw it into the mist and out of sight. Slowly, the dragon got to his feet, but his body was still so damaged that Beans wasn’t sure if he could fly at all.

“Fus roh DAH!” Beans shouted at the crowd of draugr. Bodies flew away, the undead momentarily stunned by the force of her boosted shout. Some of the lesser zombies and skeletons disintegrated, but the draugr did not. Using the moment, Beans dug into her inventory and pulled out one of the few potions she had brought along. “Durnehviir, drink this!”

She tossed the bottle into the air. Durnehviir snatched it out of the sky like a snake catching a bird and broke the glass in his teeth. The potion of Ultimate Healing restored his body, the magic glowing along his bones as it restored muscle and scales. The dragon roared, renewed, and extended his wings. 

The draugr were back on their feet, charging at Beans and Durnehviir with their weapons raised. Beating his wings, Durnehviir took off from the torn up ground. Running, Beans jumped and grabbed onto Durnehviir’s claws as he lifted them up and away from the mist and undead.

The Deathlord shouted again, trying to knock them out of the air with Unrelenting Force. Durnehviir wavered, but his wings were strong once more, his talons holding Beans tightly, and he climbed into the sky.

“What,” Beans yelled over the wind as Durnehviir flew North, “the actual fuck was that?!”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a bit difficult for me (there's a lot happening and a lot of timelines I have to keep in mind) but I hope you all enjoyed it!


	6. Ch 6 - Wrath and Roses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a nice, long chapter for all of you lovlies. Merry holidays!

Ch 6 - Wrath and Roses

Sans groaned, his skull throbbing. The fires around him swirled and wavered as his vision failed. This place, this hellhole, was too hot. He was tired, hungry, and so thirsty he felt he could drink the entirety of the river from Waterfall and it wouldn’t be enough. Every bone in his body ached with memory of pain. How long had he been here? There was no sky, no sun or even a single moon. Just fire. Fire and pain and healing and pain again.

He wished he would die.

_ You can’t die, _ a voice in his head like tinkling bells told him.  _ Hold on. She always comes back. Always. _

But when? How long? Sans closed his eyes and let his skull hang, darkness eating at the edge of his vision. Sleep would be so nice. He might dream. He might see her again.

A spear pierced his side. Sans sucked air in through his teeth, fighting to stay awake and lift his skull. The demon, Wrath it had been called, pulled the spear out and watched Sans with dark eyes. Wrath flexed its leathery wings, the flame on the end of its long tail flickered irritably. It pounded the end of the spear into the stone floor, the metal bang echoing off the distant walls. It had done this every time he almost fell asleep, every time he had been so close to darkness and quiet and a temporary escape. Even with his captor, Demiurge, gone on business, Sans still had torment.

He almost thanked this Shalltear, whoever she was, for calling Demiurge away. At least he wasn’t being torn apart bone by bone.

_ “What do you mean, Shalltear has rebelled?” _ Sans remembered the demon saying to a beautiful woman in white. He had thought she was an angel of death, with her curved horns and black wings, come to take him away from this place, but it seemed she knew the demon.

_ “As I said, Demiurge, Shalltear’s name has changed color. She is now hostile to Nazarick.” _ The woman watched Sans, her beautiful eyes narrowed in suspicion and disgust.  _ “Really, we shouldn’t say anything more here. Our Lord has already been contacted, but Entoma reports he is busy. As leader of the Guardians, I want you to leave your project and help me think of ways to aid Lord Ainz. Strategy must be discussed.” _

How long ago was that?

Sans let his skull hang again, too tired to keep it up, too tired to care if Wrath would stab him again in moments if he didn’t lift it. 

He heard footsteps approaching. It was probably Demiurge returning. Sans groaned and tried to mentally prepare himself for what was to come, but his fortitude was leaving him. Maybe if he begged, he would be spared. Maybe if he talked back, Demiurge would lose his temper and kill him.

“As you can see, my Lord, he is still alive.” Demiurge’s silky voice said. It reminded Sans of that stupid lizard, and hate boiled up in his bones. If Scouts hadn’t tormented him, if Sans had just done something to silence him, he wouldn’t have lost his temper with Nabe. Beans wouldn’t have left, and he wouldn’t be in this situation. Sans sighed and started at the chains tying him down, his soul aching. It was all his fault, all of this. Maybe he should just die. It wasn’t as if Beans needed him for anything. She was already a powerful warrior and didn’t need him to fight. Nor did she need his company, since she had her jerk of a husband. He was useless, a weight dragging everyone down -

A shadow fell over Sans and he lifted his skull. Another skeleton cloaked in a terrifying, dark aura, splendid black robes trimmed in purple, and holding a golden staff, towered over him. Maybe once Sans would have been glad to see a fellow skeleton, but not in this place.

“Our Lord has questions for you, skeleton,” Demiurge said from his Lord’s side, with the woman in white on the other, “and you will answer him truthfully, or there will be consequences.”

“What’re you gonna do, torture me?” Sans laughed bitterly at his own joke. Even though despair was eating him alive, he wouldn’t let these monsters know they had gotten to him. That was one thing he was good at; keeping everything inside.

“Show some respect in front of Lord Ainz, you ungrateful lifeform!” The woman seethed, her fists clenched and her beautiful face twisted in fury. Their Lord held up a hand, quieting her and Demiurge. The pair fell back with their heads bowed in respect.

“Sans is your name, isn’t it?” Lord Ainz said, his voice calm and commanding. The red lights inside his eye sockets started right through Sans, almost as if they could see his very soul. “I do have certain regrets regarding your welcome to Nazarick, but the past is the past.”

Sans scoffed. A welcome, is what this was?

“But perhaps I can be persuaded to treat you differently. I know who that woman is that you are with, and I want information about her.”

What help would that do? Beans would kill all of them, Sans was sure of it, when she found this place and came to rescue him. He would be dead by then, he was sure of that. With no magic, it was impossible for him to teleport away and escape. His only regret was that his capture would bring Beans to this place and she would be hurt.

“I want to know what World Items she possesses.”

“Huh?” Confused, Sans raised his skull to look at Ainz. The other skeleton’s face showed no expression, and Sans wasn’t sure what his intentions were. “What’s a World Item?”

“Don’t play dumb.” Lord Ainz growled, his black aura intensifying. Sans felt almost a physical pressure emanating from him and felt his bones ache with pain memory. He was chained, drained of magicka; helpless. Pissing off this guy was bound to lead to more creative methods from Demiurge if Sans didn’t give him what he wanted. “I know you two are players. Or Be'nseree is, at the very least. She knows about Yggdrasil.”

“I honestly don’t know.”

“You don’t know? Doesn’t Be’nseree possess anything, anything at all, that can change the fabric of the world? Maybe take over minds, bend them to her will?”

Sans shook his head. She didn’t need items to do that, she could do it herself with Bend Will. It was a Shout she had only used once, to test its abilities, but never again. It was wrong, she said, to force anyone to do something they didn’t want to.

The red lights in Ainz’s skull flashed dangerously. “It would be beneficial, on your part, to tell me everything.”

He wouldn’t tell them her secrets. His last moments wouldn’t be spent causing more trouble. “I don’t know anything about World Items. Is that a Yggdrasil thing? Maybe someone else used a spell.”

“A mere spell couldn’t force Shalltear under mind control!” Ainz shouted. He grew quiet, as if collecting himself, and continued in a much calmer tone, “I know that you know more than that, Sans, and you’re testing my patience. I won’t ask again.”

Sans felt his bones shake as his eye lights flicked towards Demiurge, who had taken a step closer; to the metal table and its tools. “Why would she need something like mind control? She’s strong enough to handle anything that stands in her way.”

“He’s obviously lying, my Lord,” Demiurge’s tail twitched with irritation. “If you give me some more time with him, I’m sure I can… persuade him to be more truthful.”

Lord Ainz held up another hand, silencing Demiurge, and turned his attention back to Sans. “You say 'Yggdrasil' like you don't know it. You're not from there, are you?"

Sans shook his skull, glancing at Demiurge again. At the devil who was so eager to torment him.

“Hm…” Lord Ainz raised a hand to his chin, thinking. “How long ago did you come to this world?”

“I dunno,” Sans furrowed his brow, trying to reason why Ainz would ask, but his mind was too muddled from deprivation and torture to think properly. "Two weeks, maybe, plus however long I've been chained up?"

"How would you compare your power to the creatures of this world?"

"How am I supposed to know that? I'm from the Underground. I'm not even native to Skyrim, let alone Yggdrasil."

"The Underground? Skyrim?" Lord Ainz once again grew quiet and turned away from Sans to take a few steps. "The latter sounds familiar. Where have I heard that?"

"My Lord," Demiurge bowed his head, "just say the word and I will extract all possible information about this 'Skyrim' from this lowly creature."

Ainz turned, flourishing his robes in a regal manner and commanded, “Demiurge, Albedo, come with me. We’ll have to change our plans.”

"Of course!" Albedo bowed her lovely head and rushed to her master's side. "But, my Lord, what about Shalltear?"

"This won’t take more than a moment, Albedo. Then we shall handle Shalltear. Demiurge, I’ll need you to gather the Eight-Edged Assassins."

~~~

Durnehviir tilted his wings, feeling a small updraft of warm air as he flew over a large city far below. He rode the current higher into the sky, so high he would look like a hawk to anyone on the ground, and looked at Qahnaarin on his back.

She was still awake, still casting her spell of Finding, only to sigh and look at the ground far below. Durnehviir could see her shoulders sagged with fatigue; could almost feel the despair radiating from her body. Leaning away from the warm updraft, Durnehviir glided along the cold winds of the plains. He could smell winter in the air; felt it despite the bright sun. Spotting a place far from roads and people, Durnehviir circled and gently descended to the ground.

"What is it?" Qahnaarin perked up, leaning over his scales to scout the area below. "Did you see something, Durnehviir?"

"Yes," the dragon hummed in his low voice. "I see that you need rest, Qahnaarin. We have been flying for four days. You need food, and sleep."

"I'm fine!" The elf snapped, crossing her arms and pouting. Even with her armor on, Durnehviir could imagine how she looked by the sound of her voice. Disheveled. Drained.

"No, you're not." Durnehviir landed gently in the tall grass. Snaking his long neck back around, he picked up Qahnaarin by her armor, minding his sharp fangs and the black metal spikes, and dropped her squirming body in the ground. "How do you expect to find your friend like this? You push yourself too far."

"I need him!" Her voice cracked. Durnehviir could smell a touch of salt, and knew without seeing her face that she cried. “Who else is going to help him? No one else is looking for him!”

"You cannot help anyone," Durnehviir said gently, pushing the elf to sit with his nose, "If you do not take care of yourself." Hearing her sniffles, he added, "I will carry you through the night again, if that is what you wish, but you must rest first. We will find your friend."

"I feel like a failure." Qahnaarin mumbled, curling up against Durnehviir's warm belly. He did not mind the spikes of her armor. Rather, he appreciated that she didn't argue with him this time about taking a break. 

"You are too stubborn to fail, Qahnaarin." The dragon hummed. The plains were peaceful here. He hadn't spotted a monster for miles. Perhaps it was because they were closer to the city than the true wilds.

The elf's breathing deepened and the smell of salt left on the wind. She was finally asleep. Twitching occasionally, but asleep. Durnehviir smiled, his lip curling over his sharp fangs, and let himself enjoy the world. 

Qahnaarin's gift of knowledge anchored him to this new place. It didn't matter that this wasn't Tamriel. He felt pure joy as he gazed at the greying sky and listened to the birds migrating South. It was good that dragons didn't need to sleep; he didn't want to miss a moment. A thousand years of imprisonment had taught him gratitude, which was a strange thing for a dragon, but it was also good.

When the sun started sinking in the sky, Durnehviir nuzzled Qahnaarin awake. She should rest for far longer, but he knew how important it was to her that she find her friend. She had spoken of almost nothing else to him. Dohvah did not know certain mortal feelings by experience, but that did not mean they did not know of them.

"Sans?" Qahnaarin asked groggily as she jerked awake, her helm turning as she looked for him. Durnehviir knew she was disappointed, for she immediately cast her Finding spell. "Oh! OH!"

Qahnaarin jumped to her feet. From her left hand, a thin thread of blue light pointed Northeast. "Oh!" She exclaimed again, too excited for words. It didn't matter, Durnehviir understood what was to happen. Once she was safely on his back, he climbed into the sky once more.

"It's not glitching, Durnehviir!" Qahnaarin squealed in delight as he carried them over the misted, undead filled plains. "We're gonna find him!"

Durhehviir wondered why the spell had only started to work now, even after all of their days of searching, but kept his thoughts quiet.

In only a few hours, Durnehviir's renewed wings carried them past a village and into the land of hills East of the mountains. Something about the air here did not seem right to him, but he couldn't quite place it. His memories of the living world were old, after all.

Qahnaarin shouted for him to land. Looking at her on his back, Durnehviir saw the blue thread of magic in her hand tilting sharply towards the ground. Turning his keen vision to the hills below, he spotted a small dark spot atop one of the many hills and circled.

His feet had barely touched the earth when Qahnaarin jumped from him. A small figure in dark blue robes laid in the short grass a few dozen yards away. Durnehviir could see one of the old Priest masks covering his face.

"Sans!" Qahnaarin shouted in delight, the magic vanishing from her hand as she ran. "Sans!" Sliding to a halt beside the body, she reached out, hesitating to touch it. "S-sans?"

Kneeling in the dirt, Qahnaarin pulled the mask off his face and held her friend in her hands. "I think he's just sleeping. He hasn’t taken any damage." Qahnaarin sighed in relief as she gently touched the white skull, mindful of the claws on her gauntlets. Durnehviir had no words. He could smell sulfur and blood all over her friend. Where had that come from? Certainly not in these hills. All Durnehviir could smell was freshly turned earth.

Something clicked in the dragon's mind. That was why this place seemed wrong. Hills like this should smell of grass and deer, maybe a faint human or monster scent from a creature passing through. These were not natural hills. They had been made, and recently enough that no other natural scents existed besides wet, upturned dirt.

“Let’s get him back home to Solitude,” Qahnaarin said, picking up her friend’s short frame and carrying it easily despite him being just more than half her size. “I’m sure he’ll tell us everything when he wakes up.”

Durnehviir was more than happy to take flight again and be away from these hills. He wondered if he should tell Qahnaarin about the strangeness of this place, but decided that could wait. He didn’t want to spoil her joy.

~~~

  
  


The kitchen of Proudspire Manor looked like a war zone. The counters were cluttered with used bowls, silverwear lay discarded on the floor, and everything had a healthy coating of flour. Despite all of Jordis’ best efforts, Be’nseree’s newest attempt at a loaf of bread resulted in a dense, over cooked lump. Norah had never been a great cook in her old life. She never needed to be one, with home delivery or premade meals. Just because she was now Be’nseree, and all food wasn’t a phone call away, didn’t mean she had magically gained any culinary artistry.

“My Lady, perhaps it would help if you kneaded it less?” Jordis, the blonde, iron-clad housecarl, and also Beans’ cooking teacher, suggested gently as Beans punched the new lump of dough on the square, wooden table. This was Beans’ last chance at bread today; any more and they would run out of flour.

“You think so?” Beans looked at her miserable looking dough and wished for Scouts’ cooking ability. He had already left the city again for the village by the time she had returned with Sans and Durnehviir, but that had been three days ago. Surely, he would be back soon? Jordis had told her that the Dremora Lords had been with him, she could still feel their connection in her mind, so nothing bad could have happened, right?

“Yes. I can finish, if you like.” Jordis took the dough from Beans had grabbed and swiftly sliced it with her kitchen knife with the intent to make buns. Her cooking was not as amazing as Scouts’, but it was better by far than what Beans could produce. “I know you want to help, but I can manage dinner prep just fine, my Lady. Why don’t you go outside and find the girls? I think they’re playing with Kayd today. The redguard boy who lives at Bits and Pieces?”

“I remember him.” Beans brushed her hands off on a rag and beat the flour from her red dress. “You know, Jordis, there is some meat that Durnehviir brought back from hunting in the pantry. Want me to grab some for you or clean up a bit before I go out?”

“Don’t worry about the mess. As for the meat,” Jordis smiled warmly and arranged the uncooked buns on a metal tray, “I won’t need that until later.” Covering the buns with a damp cloth to rise, she asked, “Are you sure this is what you want us to eat? The city is still rationing, after all.”

Beans nodded. With the trade route Scouts managed, the city was still low on food. People didn’t starve, but everyone was wanting for more, and Beans thought having a decent meal would bring up her family’s spirits. Simple soups weren’t filling enough, nor did they fill the house with wonderful smells that were sure to get someone out of bed. Good food meant good spirits. It was disappointing when, after she had returned with Sans, to be given a loaf of bread and a slice of cheese to break her days long fast. Truth be told, things were slightly better, now, with Durnehviir’s help.

When she had first returned to Solitude, Beans had to argue with the guards not to attack Durnehviir as they approached the city walls. Even though she had made an agreement with Elisif that friendly dragons were allowed near the city, old habits die hard. Durnehviir had known about Solitude’s troubles from their talks when he had first been summoned and asked her what he could do to make the people like him more. When he heard one of the guard’s snide comments about catching them dinner, the dragon had taken a liking to the idea and asked Beans if he could assist. Now he came back every day, sometimes twice a day, with a deer or bear or some other beast he had hunted and dropped its corpse outside of the city for the people to divide amongst themselves.

Jordis said it had a lot of the townspeople, and Elisif, praising Beans for bringing meat back to the city, even though she hadn’t done any hunting at all. The townspeople did seem to like dragons a bit more, and that was something. It would be easier for them to accept Odahviing when he returned.

“I’m going to check on Sans before I find the kids.” Beans said and made for the stone staircase. Jordis said nothing as she attempted to clean blanket of flour covering the kitchen, but Beans could hear what she had said before in her silence.

_ My Lady, what if he never wakes up? _

Upstairs, the moss green curtains in the master bedroom were left open wide to let in the weak sunlight. Beans crossed the room, disregarded the chair pulled up at the bedside, and sat on the edge of the large mattress, watching Sans sleep beneath the dark green covers. Sophie’s bunny, Bunbun, slept on the foot of the sheets and raised his head; his ears twitching at her. Sans murmured something, his skull turning on the feather pillow, but did not wake. Beans felt her heart tighten in her chest and took his boney hand.

“Sans?” she said gently, so as not to disturb him. He had been sleeping since she had found him three days ago, and she desperately wanted to wake him; but her shaking and shouting had not worked, nor did her potions for cure disease and poison. Beans didn’t know why Sans wouldn’t wake up, but maybe he needed to sleep after whatever had happened to him. “Dinner will be ready soon. Do you want any?”

Sans said nothing, his breathing even and deep. Rising from the bed, Beans took the cold porridge they had made for their meager breakfast from the bedside table and said, “I’ll bring some, if you want it when you wake up.”

Jordis looked up from the silverware she polished as Beans returned the uneaten food to the kitchen. The housecarl smiled sadly as she watched the tall elf sit at the clean table, the cold meal in front of her, and stared at it.

“My Lady,” Jordis left the spoon she was working back to a shine on the counter and joined Beans. Placing a hand on the high elf’s shoulder, she said, “You should go outside. It’s not healthy to stay in the house for days on end.”

“What if he wakes up while I’m gone?” Beans choked out, fighting the burning in her onyx eyes. She didn’t want to leave at all. Last time she left, Sans vanished. She had told Jordis this; she had explained everything that had happened the night she returned and why she and Scouts hadn’t come back together.

“I’ll be here to protect him.” Jordis took Beans’ pale fingers and gave them a squeeze. “We’re not out in the middle of the woods. No one is going to come for him here. And if they do, they’ll have me, you, and the whole of Solitude after them.”

Beans chuckled bitterly. The whole of Solitude, aside from the majority of her household, didn’t like Sans because of his appearance. It didn’t matter to them that he was patient or kind, or told great jokes.

“My Lady, get some fresh air.” Jordis said, a bit more firmly this time. “Things will be fine. Go find the kids and play with them. They’ve missed you terribly and don’t understand why you’re so sad. Or go talk to Elisif about the road work or get a drink at the Winking Skeever. Anything besides waiting in that room. You’ve already made steps by coming down here and trying to learn how to cook. Now go outside and get some air. I’ll send a guard to find you if he wakes up.”

“...will you let me help finish making the burgers when I get back?”

Jordis winced, glad that Beans was staring at the table and didn’t see her reaction. “I can teach you some more, if that’s what you want, but perhaps it would be better if you watched for awhile. Especially with the meat.”

“I want to make ketchup.” Beans stood up from the table, a look of renewed determination on her face. “I’ll check if the market has tomatoes while I’m out. We should definitely make ketchup. And fries!”

“Of course!” Jordis smiled and walked Beans through the living room. Ushering her Lady out onto the stone patio, she said, “Take your time outside, okay?” and shut the door quickly before Beans could change her mind.

The air was much colder than Beans remembered. The sun shone brightly in the grey sky, but it hardly warmed her in her short sleeved dress. Thinking she would heat up with a walk, Beans descended the patio stairs into a makeshift paddock on the side of the house. Arvak tossed his head in greeting and cantered over to her, nuzzling her dress.

“Hey buddy, miss me?” Beans pet his smokey purple mane and picked a piece of straw from his neck bones. “No adventures today, not until Sans wakes up. Okay?”

The streets of Solitude had more life in them than when Beans had returned. Music came from the Bard’s College, a melodious blend of flutes, lutes, and drums. Colorful banners decorated the tall poles holding their unlit lanterns. Women gossiped near their houses, children ran through the alleys as they played tag, and a dog sniffed hopefully at a barrel before lifting its leg against it. Beans waved to a pair of guards stationed close by and made her way towards the clamor in the distance: the market.

"Mama!" A red blur tackled Beans as she neared the wooden stalls of the food vendors. Surprisingly, the vendors were attending them, though their usual wares of fish, meat, and produce were replaced with household items. Candlesticks, tools, clothes, and spiced wine filled the most popular of the stalls.

"Sophie!" Beans hugged the small child, burying her face in Sophie's brown hair. "Where's your sister?"

"At the Bard's College helping with decorating." Sophie bounced excitedly, wrapping her small fingers around her mother's hand. "They're getting ready for the Burning of King Olaf! Can we go, momma? Poppa should be back soon and we can all go together!"

"That… sounds nice." Beans picked up her daughter, easily carrying the young girl on her hip, to keep her close in the crowd. She wondered if Sans would be awake in time to join in. If not, maybe the clamor of a festival right outside the window would wake him. "I didn't think it would be this busy today. Did you see anything you like? Aren’t you cold?" she added, noting the short sleeves of Sophie’s mauve dress.

"Momma, I’m a nord. Nords don’t get cold. Oh! Can I try the spiced wine?" Sophie pointed to the bulbous green bottles with the East Empire stamp still on their bellies. Beans noted that many of the people around the stalls, all nords, didn’t seem to mind the chilly weather, and the air stank of human sweat. "I heard about it from the people at Winterhold. It's supposed to be better than mead!"

"You're a bit young to drink, don't you think?"

"No!" Sophie wrinkled her nose irritably. "I used to drink mead back when I lived in Candlehearth! The innkeeper use to give me a bottle to help me sleep if I helped her clean. And Sissel told me she used to sneak ale from the cupboard when her other poppa passed out."

“How old are you and Sissel?” Beans asked, semi serious. The game never specified the age of the children, but she had assumed it was eleven or twelve.

“Momma! We’re nine!” Sophie pouted and crossed her arms, offended. “You know that!”

“Of course I do,” Beans lied, “but I was making sure you knew. Nine is way too young to drink.”

“But mommaaa!”

“I said no. No alcohol until you’re older.” Beans snapped. Seeing Sophie’s dejected look, she added, “but if you and your sister are good, maybe I’ll let you try a sip of wine at the festival.”

Sophie continued to pout, whining under her breath, “But I  _ like _ mead.” Beans chose to ignore this and opened the door to Bits and Pieces.

The bustle and noise from the open market died as soon as the heavy wooden door snapped shut behind Beans and Sophie. The young girl squirmed, spotting the redguard boy on the other side of the counter, and Beans let her back onto the ground.

“I’m going to play with Kayd!” Sophie snapped, grabbing the confused boy’s hand and dragging him to the back room. Surprised at Sophie’s temper, Beans let her go without a word.

“Back so soon?” Sayma, the redguard shopkeep and mother to Kayd, skirted around the children as she returned from the storeroom with an armful of books. Spotting Beans, Sayma dropped the books, the topmost of them bearing the golden phoenix emblem of the Restoration school, onto the counter. Straightening the leather corset over her blue dress, Sayma quickly greeted her customer, “Dragonborn! I didn’t see you there. How can I help you?”

“It’s just Be’nseree, or Beans, now.” Beans smiled and looked around the shop. The shelves displayed low level weapons for sale and there were baskets full of ores or torches shoved into the corners. One chair had a stack of folded pelts set neatly on its seat. “I’m, um, looking for tomatoes. Do you have any?”

“Unfortunately, no.” Sayma sighed and leaned on the rough wooden counter. “The Imperial soldiers confiscated all food from the shops for rationing. Even the mead, ale, and wine. They just delivered some to the market today for the upcoming festival.”

“Is that so?” Beans sighed, her earlier determination dwindling. If General Tullius and his men were guarding the food stores, it would be unlikely he would hand out anything to her. Staring at nothing, Beans wondered if she should put on her stealth equipment and sneak in to steal what she needed. But if they were rationing everything, that meant they were counting. What if the numbers were off? She would have to find the list, and change that-

“Something happen with your girl?” Sayma nodded knowingly, following Beans’ vacant gaze to the backroom. “She didn’t sound too happy when she came in with you.”

“Huh?” Beans snapped out of her thoughts. “Oh, yeah. I told her she couldn’t drink mead.”

Sayma laughed and tucked her black hair behind her ear.. “Yeah, I’ve caught Kayd talking his fathering into letting him have some when they go to the Winking Skeever together. I told Beirand before, I can smell it on the kid’s breath, but he insists it helps him learn to be a man or something.”

“And you’re okay with that?” 

“Well, sure, to a point.” Sayma shrugged. “You know kids. Tell them not to do something and they’ll just do it behind your back. I’d rather my son have a goblet every now and then with is father instead of him drinking himself into a stupor without either one of us.”

That kind of thinking left Beans speechless. Sure, it had a logic to it, but Beans came from a world with a legal drinking age that Skyrim seemed to lack. “But she’s  _ nine _ !”

“Hey, I’m not telling you how to raise your kids.” Sayma shrugged again. “I’m just telling you what I do with mine.”

“Well,” Beans hesitated, not sure if this was the woman she wanted to ask for any kind of advice, “what do you think I should do? Just let her have a bottle of mead every now and then? That doesn’t seem right.”

“How about you start with ‘only for special occasions’ and work from there?” Sayma smiled. “I know you’re not exactly around all the time to watch them with your line of work. It’s understandable, you’ve got to bring home the septims somehow. Start with teaching them how to regulate themselves and that should help. Or give them something to busy themselves with. Kayd helps his father with the smithy every other day learning how to melt iron and make farm tools.”

“You know, I had thought about teaching the girls alchemy.” Beans looked at the books on the table with renewed interest. The top one, instructions for ‘Lesser Ward’, could be a spell for the girls to start learning magic with. “Maybe start with a garden for alchemical ingredients. There’s a ton of pots on my balcony they could use for planters.”

“That would be a great start!” Sayma picked up the golden spell tome and put it in Beans’ pale hand. “And there’s nothing wrong with teaching them defensive spells, either, as long as they have the aptitude. Keep kids involved with something and they won’t have time for trouble.”

Pulling the necessary gold from her inventory, Beans dropped the septims into Sayma’s copper colored palm and put the spellbook in the invisible pocketspace. Thanking Sayma for the book and surprising advice, Beans called for Sophie. The girl didn’t answer.

“Don’t worry,” Sayma chuckled at the lost look on Beans’ face. “Sophie can stay here for awhile with Kayd. I’ll watch her. She might be upset now, but the girl talks about you all the time. She won’t stay mad forever.”

“You don’t think I should bring her home now?” Beans asked in hushed tones, just in case Sophie was listening. “I’m trying to make a special dinner. I don’t want her to miss it.”

“Honestly?” Sayma leaned back and appraised Beans, eyeing the dark patches under her black eyes and the wrinkles in her red dress. “I think you should get the flour out of your hair and go have a drink yourself. You look drained.”

“I’d rather have a hot bath, honestly.” Beans sighed, earning a flash of white teeth and a booming laugh from Sayma.

“Go get a goblet of wine and have your bath then!” Sayma smiled, leaning in closer and adding in a whisper, “One mother to another, while you’re at the tavern, find a guy named Sam. He might be able to help you get your tomatoes. But you didn’t hear it from me, got it?”

Sam? Beans recognized that name. Was he really dealing in produce? If he was, she didn’t know what kind of price he would ask. With a last look at the backroom, Beans nodded. “Thanks, Sayma.” The shopkeeper and Jordis were right; maybe she just needed to relax a bit more. She was in Solitude. There were guards and soldiers everywhere. Nothing would happen to Sophie if she went across the street.

“Come back soon, Be’nseree!” Sayma waved as her first customer in a long time left her store. “I’ll send Sophie home in time for supper.”

Walking quickly across the chilly, cobbled street, avoiding the growing crowd and its noise, Beans made for creaking sign of the Winking Skeever.

The air inside of the tavern stank of ale and yeast, but it was warm, and the low light was comforting. The barkeeper, Corpulus, looked up, the sour look on his face making it plain that he was expecting to kick someone out. There weren’t many people in the tavern now that he had to limit how many bottles he could sell every day, and few people could afford the new prices. With a look around the empty sets, Beans couldn’t find the face she was expecting to see. With a sigh, she flashed her gold, bought a bottle of wine to keep Corpulus happy, and sat at a table close to the fire. The heat felt delicious; she hadn’t realized how chilly it was outside. 

The cold had never been an actual problem before, just a status bar on the bottom of her screen that inhibited her speed if she let it fall too far. But the weather and the thought of the coming winter finally seemed like a real threat and Beans vowed to get some decent clothes for under her armor and a cloak for when she wore her dress. The high frost resistance from her current gear didn’t equate immunity to natural weather, it seemed.

Uncorking the bottle, Beans took a deep drink of the watered down wine and felt a small heat inside her belly to match that on her skin. The weather was so much nicer on the plains. Why did Solitude have to transport itself into the peaks of the mountains? It could’ve gone further south, on a beach somewhere, but it just had to end up in the coldest part of the world. Cold wouldn’t be a problem on a beach; or food. No, it had to be the mountains.

“How’s my favorite drinking buddy?” A sultry voice asked, making Beans jump and spill wine on herself.

“What the fu-?!” Beans growled, wiping at the stain with her hand. The dark liquid only spread. Sitting back down with a scowl on her face, Beans looked at the man who had startled her. Black hair, eyes, and a long black robe: it was Sanguine himself, also known as Sam. “Dammit, Sanguine, did you have to sneak up on me?”

“No, but it was fun.” Sanguine laughed, his handsome face and black eyes bright with mirth, and took a seat on a stool across from Beans. Eyeing the wine and her unkempt look, he said, “It seems like our night out has turned you into a regular old drunk. A shame, I thought you had more tolerance than that.”

“I’m not a drunk, I’ve just been dealing with a lot, okay?” Beans frowned, doing her best to straighten her hair and dress. “Give me a break.”

“Of course. Nothing a bottle can’t fix, right?” Sanguine said smoothly, tapping her nearly empty bottle. The liquid inside tripled and he winked. “Looking to drown your sorrows?”

“No, I was looking for you, actually.” Beans raised an eyebrow at the Daedric Prince of debauchery, wondering what he was planning or if he thought he could get her blackout drunk again. Snakeblood made getting drunk very difficult, since it made her very resistant to poison.

“Yes, a lot of people need things nowadays.” Sanguine produced a goblet and a bottle of wine from the folds of his robes to pour himself a drink. “What dreadful times these are - that people tighten their belts and abstain from the joys of the world. I suppose you need something too, don’t you? But I’d like to catch up over a few drinks first. How’s my old staff working for you?”

“I just need a couple of tomatoes, Sanguine.” Seeing the stony look on the Prince’s face, Beans took a sip of her wine. It tasted a lot better than the stuff Corpulus had sold her, on account that it hadn’t been cut with water. “I was told you had some?”

“Of course,” Sanguine smiled, drinking deeply from his own goblet. “Such a shame, that food is so scarce. Feasts are such a wonderful thing; full of all kinds of opportunities. I may not be able to throw a party myself, being who I am, but the scarcity has brought so many mortal souls to my table.”

“And you’ve been feeling so benevolent as to hand out food to the people?” Beans asked sarcastically, sipping her wine again to keep Sanguine talking. That, and the heat in her belly felt good.

“I wouldn’t say that.” Sanguine smiled devilishly, “I just want some drinking buddies. If a mortal can hold their own with me, I can give some advice to help them straighten out their wayward paths. Or they make a left turn and fall off a cliff. Whatever. A wheel of cheese is a small price to pay for some fun. But you never told me about my staff?”

“It’s good.” Beans shrugged, thinking it wouldn’t keep the Daedra on her side if she told him that his staff, the Sanguine Rose, was decorating the wall behind her enchanting table. “It’s helpful. I’m keeping it safe right now, since I don’t have any more slots for summoning.”

“I see,” Sanguine nodded, watching Beans drink. “Yes, I suppose it would be some trouble if someone without competence had it. So tell me, how are you? Why so stressed? I would have thought the dragonborn would just slice open any problems in her way.”

“If only it were that easy!” Beans laughed, slamming the wine bottle on the table. “But that’s not the kind of person I am, Sam, I’m gonna do it the hard way. Always have. There's no challenge in easy mode.”

“Yes, I’m sure your husband appreciates that.” Sanguine rolled his eyes, his voice full of sarcasm. Making sure Beans wasn’t watching, he tapped her bottle again. “Why don’t you ask him to bring you some tomatoes? Isn’t he the one bringing food to the city? Or, perhaps,” Sanguine added with a chuckle, “he’s grown resistant to your feminine wiles?”

“Don’t be lewd. I don’t need to put out to Scouts.” Beans shook her head, feeling fuzzy. Dropping her voice, she added, “Can you keep a secret?”

“For my favorite mortal? Of course.”

“I’m kind of glad he’s gone.” Beans drank deeply from her wine. It had the rough, biting feel of hard liquor on the back of her throat, but she felt like she was unwinding for the first time in… ever. “I know he’s helping the city, doing this trading and all, but things are so much more… complicated when he’s around. He can’t get along with Sans to save his life!”

“That skeleton that you keep around?” 

“Yeah! They’re always fighting with each other and I don’t know why!” Beans gestured angrily at the door, as if Scouts and Sans had just walked out. “I can see they hate each other, but it’s so stupid! There’s no reason for it!”

Sanguine smiled, reached out, and brushed flour from Beans’ hair. “Yes, I’m sure the reasons are quite stupid. But surely your loving husband has confided these reasons to you?”

Beans shook her head, then slowly changed it to a nod. Taking another drink, she slurred, “He hates Sans, know that much. ’M not dumb enough to not see it. I honestly think Scouts just wants me to be wifey and go on dates. I don’t wanna do that.”

“Whatever do you mean?” Sanguine tapped the bottle again, watching Beans slump onto the table. "You’re unhappy in your marriage?"

Beans shrugged and drank more wine. “He’s a good guy, I think. I just… don’t feel the same way he does. Not like there’s anyone ta ask ‘bout it.”

“You could ask me.” Sanguine smiled at the elf’s doubtful glare. “Ah, don’t trust me, I see? Well then, why not ask that skeleton who’s always tagging along with you?”

"Won't wake up." Beans popped up off the table, swaying. "Hey! Yer a Daedric Prince!"

Sanguine chuckled. "You're so observant when you're deep in your cups."

"Not what I meant," Beans shook her head, a bit more than necessary, and drank more wine. "You can mani-pulate the world! I gotta wake Sans up. I've tried potions and spells ‘n nothing works. You could wake him up-" Beans snapped her fingers, "like that!"

"That's not really my thing," Sanguine laughed. "Besides, even if I could, what would I get out of it?"

"A favor?"

"Hm…" Sanguine sat back in his chair, contemplating the wine he swirled in his goblet. "Tempting, but like I said, waking people up isn't something I do. Getting them so drunk they pass out, however, is more in the realm of possibility."

Beans groaned and let her head fall to the table.

"Perhaps I can help you," Sanguine grinned devilishly, "in exchange for that favor?"

"How?" Beans perked up, curious. 

"Do I have that favor of yours?"

"Yes! Jus’ tell me howta wake up Sans!"

The door to the tavern swung open, letting in a draft of cold air. Sanguine grinned, directing her attention towards the new arrivals. Beans turned in her seat, recognizing Scouts and, behind him, Momon. When she turned back to question Sanguine, the Daedric Prince had vanished.

"Ay!" Beans stood up, knocking her wine bottle to the floor with a crash. "Ya little shit! Git back here!"

"There you are, my love!" Scouts rushed in, his arms open wide for a hug. "Who are you talking to?" Beans pushed his arms away and dropped to the floor to check under the table.

"Been talking to herself all night," Corpulus, the bartender, spoke up. "Mumbling to her bottle. Seems your wife can't hold her wine too well, Scouts."

"Is that so?" Scouts smiled weakly as Beans began to pick up chairs in her search for Sanguine. "My apologizes, Corpulus. I'll bring her home."

"No!" Beans kicked a chair over when Scouts took her arm, trying to gently guide her towards the door. "The bastard was jus’ here! He was going to tell me how to wake up Sans!"

"Sans?" Scouts screwed up his face, as if he was trying hard to remember something. "Did something happen to him?"

"He was kidnappt!" Beans slurred as Scouts and Momon combined their efforts to lead her back out onto the cold street. "Yowere there, Scouts, don't you ‘member?"

"No, I don't. Let's get you home, love, Jordis is waiting on us to start dinner." In a low whisper, he said to Momon, "I'm sorry you have to see her like this. You're still welcome to stay for the night, if you like. It's the least I can do after you travelled all the way here."

"That's all right," Momon shook his helmed head as the group stepped out into the night. Nabe and the Dremora twins, who had been guarding Scouts on his trade route, were waiting for them. The twins bowed their heads respectfully to their master. "Now that I know where the inn is, Nabe and I will stay here after we help you get Beans home."

"Tha’ bastard owes me tomatoes!" Beans growled, trying to turn back towards the tavern. She broke free of Scouts grip, had taken no more than three steps, and Momon grabbed her by the waist to carry her over his shoulder. "Lemme go, Scouts! I'll punch you!"

"That's not me," Scouts sighed, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Momon?" Beans stopped struggling. "When'd you get here?"

"I came with your husband." Momon used his free hand to bat away Beans' hands from his helmet. The elf giggled and tried to remove it with her teeth. "Could you stop that?"

"Lemme see your face!" Beans renewed her giggles and said, "I bet you have facial hair, and I mustache you a question."

"Uggh," Nabe groaned, her eye twitching as she remembered the long hours of pun based torture in Carne. "So that's where the skeleton gets his puns from. How annoying."

"How’d you get a skeleton to laugh?" Beans kept up her jokes, even as Scouts opened the basement door to usher the group out of the cold. "Ya tell him a rib tickler! Haha!"

Momon dropped the drunk elf onto the warm, stone floor, his helm barely moving as he gazed in awe around the treasure filled basement. Turning to Beans, who was being helped to her feet by Scouts, he asked, "This is quite the impressive collection. Did you gather it all yourself?"

"Yessir!" Beans smiled proudly, her cheeks pink with a drunken glow. "Just me 'n Sans, killing bad guys and takin’ stuff off their corpses. Lootin’ dungeons, that whole schtick." Momon walked around the room slowly, Nabe at his side, occasionally reaching out to pick something up and examine it. The Dremora Lords watched him closely, their black eyes squinting up in suspicion. Momon quickly returned a cup of glowing dust to the shelf and continued exploring with his gaze.

"My love, where about are your potions?" Scouts lifted the lid of a barrel and closed it just as quickly when he spotted saber cat eyes, human hearts, and giants toes. He had never delved too deeply into his wife’s collection and for good reason.

"Chest," Beans hiccuped, "in the back room. What'cha need, Scoutsie?"

"You need a cure poison potion." Scouts disappeared into the back room, stepped around the bedroll on the floor, and dug through one of the chests inside. "To sober up."

"M’ not drunk!" Beans crossed her arms and pouted. "Didn't even havva full bottle of wine! ...or maybe I did. Think Sanguine kept refilling it. Sneaky bastard."

"Then you wouldn't mind drinking this?" Scouts returned with a small, red potion in his scaly green hand. Beans drank it all in one swig.

"See?" She burped, swaying slightly on the spot. "Not drunk."

"Maybe the potion isn't working?" Scouts mumbled, examining the empty bottle. “At least it got rid of the smell of alcohol.”

"What is this armor made out of?" Momon asked from the end of the room, examining two fully armored mannequins.

"Dragonbone ‘n scale." Beans smiled, "Made it n’ enchanted it meself!"

"You made this?" Momon hummed thoughtfully, removed the dragonscale helmet from the mannequin, and cast appraise magic item. He stared at the overlapping scales and twisted horns on the helm for a long while before saying, "You have a talent, then, for making things. Did you make the weapons on the walls as well?"

"Naah," Beans waved her hand dismissively at the glowing axes, swords, and shields. "Found all those. Their stats are garbage, for the most part. Tha’ staff there, the Rose, is the only thing I've ever used, really. But now tha’ I can cast its spell myself, it just stays on the wall. Pretty, innit?"

"Would you ever be interested in making something for me? Of course, I would pay you."

"Maybe," Beans shrugged. "If you give me the stuff ta make it. I don't need any gold."

"Are you saying you'll do it for free? Or do you want an item in exchange for your talent?"

Beans laughed. "I can make stuff and my house is overflowing with stuff. Innt that neat? But the only thing I don’t got right now issa way to wake up Sans. If you can do that, we gotta deal."

"My love," Scouts interrupted gently, "perhaps we could ask for advice instead? There is a problem with the trade route I've been wanting to discuss…"

"Pfffft," Beans waved her hand, shooing the issue away.

"I will offer my advice as well," Momon nodded to a disgruntled Scouts, "If you'll allow me a moment with your wife, we'll join you for dinner shortly. What are you having?"

"Burgers!" Beans yelled and threw her fists in the air with excitement, then groaned and sagged with defeat. "Never got any tomatoes, so there won't be ketchup… Dammit ‘n I wanted it to be special..."

"Well, I'm flattered you wanted to make a special meal for me," Scouts grinned widely and kissed Beans on her flushed cheek, who scowled and pushed him away. "Well, if you’re sure you’re alright, I'll let you two talk business then. We can talk about the route together later."

Momon waited for Scouts to climb the stone steps before asking Beans about Sans. While she showed him upstairs, she complained about how long Sans had been asleep; how nothing she tried worked, and about the crowd following them. The Dremora Lords nodded obediently, taking the hint that they should wait for her elsewhere. Nabe refused point blank to leave Momon alone, but reluctantly agreed to wait for him just outside of the bedroom door. 

"Here he is," Beans showed Momon the master bedroom, gesturing towards the dark green sheets that covered the sleeping Sans. "Been like that for a week. I dunno what ya think you can do, but iffit works…"

Momon sat on the edge of the bed, the wooden frame groaning under his weight. Beans flopped face first onto the sheets near him, rolling onto her side to watch Momon examine Sans through the slit in his helm. The dark warrior murmured to himself as he turned Sans' skull from side to side; picked up his boney hand and let it fall back onto the bedsheets.

"It seems to be a high level Sleep spell." Momon said finally, turning to Beans. "Its simple enough to fix. I'm honestly surprised you haven't cured it yourself."

"Must be a Yggdrasil thing." Beans sighed and sat up to touch the sleeping skeleton. "I don' know anything about its magic. Can ya help er not, Momon?"

"I can help." Momon stood up and turned slightly away to rustle around inside his cape. When he turned back, he handed Beans a small blue potion. "This should negate the status effect. I take it you'll keep your end of the bargain and make that armor for me?"

"Yis!" Beans jumped on the potion, falling on top of Sans in her eagerness. If this worked, if Sans woke up, she would give Momon almost anything he wanted, and told him as much. This seemed to please the warrior immensely; he took a few steps back to give her space.

The bed was so fluffy, and Beans so unstable in her drunken state, that she ended up straddling Sans as she tried to pull the cork out of the potion with her teeth. It came free from the glass with a satisfying pop. Her hands shaking, praying to whatever gods ruled this world, she opened Sans’ jaw and tipped the liquid, blue magic into the black hole between the skeleton's teeth.

Beans held her breath, one hand on Sans' chest, feeling the slow rise and fall of his breathing. White light flickered inside of his empty eye sockets as the potion pulled Sans out of his enchanted sleep. The room was out of focus to Sans, but slowly everything became much more clear and he could see Beans place face, her pink cheeks framed by her rose red hair, hovering inches away from his skull. He grinned, his smile lopsided, and croaked, "Hey there."

"Sansie!" Beans shouted in joy, pulling the skeleton’s skull into her chest and wiggling with joy. Sans felt his cheekbones heat up, along with the rest of his body. How could he not blush, with her gyrating her soft hips on his pelvic bone and shoving his face so close? Sans didn't even mind that he had no idea what Beans was doing there in the first place. "Yer awake!" Beans squealed and continued her joyous wiggle dance, "Finally! I've missed ya so much, I-"

The drunken pink in her cheeks deepened to red as she felt just how happy Sans was seeing her. With a mischievous grin, she whispered where his ears would be, "Leave it to a skeleton to get a boner, ya closet perv."

The entirety of Sans skull flushed dark blue. It was all too much - his skull pressed against the soft skin of her chest, the enveloping scent of roses and wood ash, the warm weight of a woman sitting on him, and now this seductive tone she whispered in his ear? Sans felt blood leak from his nose hole as the gears of his mind spun frantically from trying to make sense of the situation.

Momon cleared his throat loudly from the corner of the room, shuffling awkwardly on his feet. He was doing his best to look anywhere except directly at the indecent display of affection before him.

"Oh Momon, thank you!" Beans leapt from the bed to tackle the tall warrior with a hug and to shower the side of his black helm with kisses and praise. Nabe tore into the room, furious, and pulled the drunk elf off of him. Sans sat up, pulling his legs to his chest to hide himself, and wiped the blood from his face. His eye lights stared a hole in the sheets from embarrassment. 

Once he had banished the magical appendage he hadn't meant to summon, Sans asked, his deep voice cracking from lack of use, "So, anyone want to tell me what's going on?" 


	7. Ch 7 - The Color of Tomatoes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year, you wonderful person you! Thanks again for reading The Other Side. I hope you all continue to enjoy the adventures of Beans, Sans, and Ainz in this new year!

Ch 7 - The Color of Tomatoes

"To think you could plan for even this strange situation… your wisdom knows no bounds, my Lord." Naberal bowed her head in respect as Ainz leaned against the stone railing of the top floor study and observed the two new creatures, the Dremora Lords, waiting in the sitting room.

_ Why does everything have to be part of some plan to her? I just got lucky. _

"Keep your voice down, Naberal." Ainz hushed her and looked to the closed door of the master bedroom. After Ainz had reawakened Sans, he had stayed just long enough to hear that Sans had no memory of his capture or his time in Nazarick. Be'nseree could fill in everything else. "We have been invited in and must not waste time. Having Be'nseree so incapacitated is an opportunity for us to search without inturruption."

"I offer only the highest praise," Naberal whispered, mindful of the house full of people. Ainz could barely make her out over the chatter from the family dining below. "By keeping the low tier skeleton in Nazarick for so long, you've no doubt planned for us to arrive at this exact time. I'm only sorry you had to witness such a shameful display."

_ Actually, Beans kind of reminded me of Albedo. _ Ainz thought and motioned for Naberal to follow him down the stone steps.  _ Then again, Albedo's not exactly shameless herself.  _

It was hard not to feel bad for the short skeleton, not when Ainz could so perfectly understand his feelings to the point his embarrassment had to be suppressed.

"Scouts," Ainz waved to get the Argonian's attention. Scouts turned in his seat at the table, hushing a young, blonde girl at his side. "I've finished upstairs. Be'nseree has agreed to make an item of my choice. Do you mind if browse her collection for ideas? I know you invited Nabe and myself to eat with your family, but perhaps some other time?"

"Of course," Scouts nodded, smiling. "Perhaps some other time, then."

"Poppa, who's that?" Another small child, this one with brown hair, leaned across the table to get a better look at Ainz.

"That's the warrior Momon, Sophie." Scouts explained as Ainz descended the stairs. "The one who helped me in the village. Don't you remember me telling you about him?"

"Sir, forgive my lack of foresight," Naberal whispered as she and Ainz turned and descended to the basement, "but why would you ask permission from those lower life forms?"

"Think about it, Naberal." Ainz looked around the crowded basement, wondering where to start his search. "What do you think would happen if they came downstairs and found us looking through all this?" Spotting a chest next to a line of weapons displayed on the wall, Ainz popped open the lid and looked through its contents. "This way, we can take our time and blame it on coming up with an idea."

"I see. So that is why you asked the elf woman to make you something." Naberal turned her stern gaze to the clutter of bookshelves near a glowing table. Picking randomly, she pulled a faded, leather tome from its place and thumbed through it. She couldn't read, but she could still appraise the item to see if it had any magical powers. Within seconds, Naberal replaced the book and examined the next.

In truth, Ainz wanted so much more than just one item. He already knew that Be'nseree was another player like himself. In Nazarick, Sans had named 'Skyrim' as their land of origin. The implication that another game had somehow merged itself with Yggdrasil to form this new world both terrified and intrigued Ainz. There was so much more he realized he did not know. A lack of information in this new world could be deadly for Nazarick. He had to test the limits of her powers somehow, and making an item just seemed like a good place to start.

The chest Ainz looked through contained what he believed to be junk. All that was inside was a collection of animal skins, various types of metal bars like steel and orichalcum, and some loose iron ore. The barrel next to it had a bunch of glowing gems of different sizes, but no enchantments that he could detect. They looked exactly like data crystals, but had no blank space for code within them, and so seemed worthless.

"Something you're looking for in particular, Sir?" A soft voice asked from the staircase. Ainz looked away from the pair of staffs hanging on a weapon display. Recognizing the blonde woman who had sat at the dinner table, Ainz shook his helmed head and picked up a silver staff with a large blue orb on the end.

"No, just browsing, I suppose. " Ainz felt himself get nervous. It wasn't impossible that the human woman was a high level npc under command by Be'nseree, despite what her iron armor suggested, and he would have to be careful with his words. Hopefully his lies would be convincing enough. "I haven't seen many item enchantments before, and there are more than a few collected here."

"If you can think it, chances are that my Lady can make it possible. My name is Jordis, sir. Please let me know if I can help your search." The woman smiled, but her ice blue eyes watched Ainz and Naberal carefully. "Though you can do incredible things, too, I hear. You woke up my Lady's friend and for that you have my thanks."

"It was nothing, really." Ainz replaced the staff, aware that it held powers for paralysis, which was interesting, but the effect only lasted seconds and wielding a staff like that would be more of a hindrance in battle than helpful. He had spells that were more potent than that staff anyways. Perhaps he could get this Jordis to help him with his search for dangerous items, but how could he ask without being suspicious?

"My Lady spoke quite highly of you, as did her husband. It is good to hear she is making friends in this new world." 

_ I wouldn't call us friends. Who's to say Be'nseree wasn't the one who attacked Shalltear?  _ Ainz felt the memory of his fight with Shalltear, of having to kill her, surface in his mind and bring his anger to a boil that was quickly suppressed by his undead mind.  _ If I find out she's responsible, I'm going to burn this city to the ground. _

Jordis continued to follow Ainz and Naberal around the basement. Noticing the shelf Naberal examined, she said, "Oh, you don't want anything from there. That's all alchemical ingredients. Unless you want a potion made?"

"You seem to know this place quite well." Ainz said, perhaps a little rudely, for the woman's smile fell from her face. He quickly apologized and commented Jordis on her memory for such things. Ainz had to be polite, he reminded himself, if he was going to get what he wanted.

"Of course. It is my duty to care for my Lady's things when she is away."

_ Just like Pandora's Actor, huh? How would I talk him into showing me powerful items, if I were someone else? _ Ainz groaned internally. Something like that would be impossible to get out of Pandora. He loved the treasury more than anything else in Nazarick, aside from his creator, and would guard its secrets with his life.

"I am looking for something to fight a certain kind of monster." It seemed highly unlikely that a player from a different game would have a World Item, but he had to make sure. If he didn’t, and his friend’s children were harmed, Ainz would have no one to blame but himself. He couldn’t ask about Shalltear directly, but he could start with a general question and work from there. "Does Be'nseree have anything that would be helpful against vampires?"

"Oh, yes!" Jordis smiled and beckoned Ainz and Naberal to a storeroom near the basement's exit. Digging through one of the dozen chests inside, she presented a plain looking silver sword to Ainz. "The Silent Moons enchantment would be good for that, although it only works at night. She can also enchant jewellery to prevent diseases and enhance various weapons with fire magic."

"What about a vampire's other abilities?" Ainz took the silver sword and pretended to examine it with interest. The enchantment, according to his Appraise spell, looked like garbage with only minimal magical damage and not worth the silver the blade was made of. "Like charm and seduction. Does Be'nseree, perhaps, have anything to protect against mind control?"

"Hm…" Jordis looked around the storeroom at the other chests and dozens of crates stacked against the wall. Naberal eyed the bedroll on the floor with a look of disgust. "No, I don't think so, Sir. I've only heard of one person who could even use such a power."

"Oh?" Ainz tried not to sound too eager. "Be'nseree, you mean?"

"No, but my Lady told me about him. Miraak is the man who could use mind control to enslave men and dragons. He tried to enslave an entire island, but was killed by my Lady."

"Did she bring his gear here, then?" Ainz looked at the dust crates with renewed interest. "I imagine she would keep a mind control item under lock and key, just to keep it safe. Or would she use it to fight monsters?"

Jordis laughed, catching Ainz by surprise. "There is no item that can do that, sir, and I've seen the rarest of items pass through these doors. Even if there was, my Lady would never use such a thing."

"Why would you think that?" Ainz wondered if Jordis was lying to him. The blonde woman seemed to genuinely respect him, judging by her demeanor, but it was more likely she was keeping her master's secrets.

"It goes against her character." Jordis smiled warmly as she packed the silver sword safely back into the wooden chest. "My Lady, as brash and quick tempered as she can be, has a very large heart. She finds good things in strange places and goes out of her way to protect the weak. She would never control someone against their will."

"The world isn't always so kind." Ainz looked towards the door. He wouldn't be able to search the place, not like he wanted to, with Jordis hovering behind him.

"Yes, there are always those who might hurt you." Jordis nodded sadly and looked at the ceiling, towards the room on the highest floor. "If you need monster advice, I would suggest returning when my Lady has sobered up. She has fought all manner of creatures and can give you advice on vampires and upgrading your equipment.."

_ I'm more curious how she's so powerful when all these items are low tier quality at best. Why even collect them? The only impressive pieces are those suits of armor she claims to have made…  _ Ainz knew that if Be'nseree did have anything truly powerful it was likely that she would have hidden such things away where no one could find them. That's what he had done when he built the Mausoleum.  _ She couldn't have levels in all three areas of crafting. Not when she already has a maxed out warrior build and levels in cleric. That doesn't make sense. Her levels sould be too low to smith anything decent, and that’s before enchantment and alchemy. _

Ainz thanked Jordis for her time and departed the manor into the dark streets of Solitude. With Nabe at his side, he strolled down the cobbled streets and watched snowfall in the lights of the hanging street lanterns. The delicate flakes swirled on the breeze and melted as soon as they landed on anything. Ainz might not be bothered by the cold, with his body being undead, but he could tell that if the weather kept up the city would be under a blanket of snow by morning.

“My Lord,” Naberal asked, her voice hushed so a pair of passing guards didn’t overhear, “What should we do? The Eight-Edged Assassins are here, we could take out the woman’s household and claim everything for Nazarick.”

“No, not yet. There are too many unknowns. We must proceed carefully.” It would be stupid to start a war with a faction he knew nothing about. He didn’t want to put Nazarick at risk.

What Ainz really wanted to do was bring Be'nseree to Nazarick for experiments. There was yet another player out there with a World Item, one already capable of harming his beloved guild, and he would like to claim the elf's powers for the Great Tomb. Having Be'nseree fight this mystery player would be even better. Ainz didn't care if she died doing it; better her than his friends' beloved children.

_ But how would I get here there? Sans was difficult enough to capture alive and keep contained. Is there a way to convince Be'nseree to come on her own? Would I even want to show her Nazarick? I think there was a saying Tabula use to quote. Keep your friends strong and your enemies closest, or something like that. _

~~~

The square dining table wasn't loaded down with a feast, but Scouts felt like he ate like a king tonight. This was a meal his wife had prepared. A special one meant for him, he was sure. Her tastes were definitely strange (why would anyone want to eat their meat ground up and on a bun?) but Scouts could honestly care less.

"I know she tried her best," Jordis smiled weakly as she handed plates of food to Sissel, Sophie, and Scouts, "So be kind. Be'nseree tried her best."

"I'm sure it's wonderful." Scouts eagerly took a bite and felt his heart warm. The bun was dense and slightly overcooked, but the meat was passable.

"Isn't Momma coming?" Sissel asked and looked at the stone steps. She poked at her food, not liking that the meat looked like it was pre-chewed, and said as much.

"They're called 'burgers'." Jordis encouraged her to try some as Scouts also looked at the stairs.

What was happening up there, with her, Momon, and the thrall? Ever since Momon helped him weeks ago with finalizing trade in the village, Scouts had trusted the man, but he hated the thought of his wife alone.

"Perhaps I should check on her," Scouts moved to get out of his seat and was stopped by a hand on his arm from Jordis.

"I'm sure she's fine, Sir." Jordis coaxed Scouts back into the wooden chair. "She'll come down when she's done. We should eat while it's warm."

Scouts knew Jordis was right; knew that he had told himself he would try to trust his wife more. His long, lonely journey to and from the village had given him time to think about how he had been acting.

_ It's me she married. _ He told himself, only half listening to Sissel tell Sophie about her day at the Bard's College and her new flute lessons.  _ She had travelled with the thrall for ages and I'm the one she approached while wearing the amulet of Mara. She cares no more for it than those two monsters she summoned to guard me. _

"Sir?"

"Yes?" Scouts snapped back to the dinner conversation, aware that he had been staring at the steps. "Sorry, I was thinking about, eh, Momon. The man I brought back with me."

"The warrior you told me about?" Jordis drank deeply from her silver goblet as she remembered the story Scouts had told her the last time he was home.

"Yes, the same man." Scouts wiped the grease from his scaled face with a cloth. "I found him visiting the village again, hoping to run into me it seems. He said he was curious about our city and I invited him."

"How did the trade go? You mentioned concerns about your guard," Jordis looked to the sitting room where the Dremora sat. The pair had their large, cruel looking weapons on their knees, talking in low voices. Earlier, when Jordis had been setting the table, she offered them a seat. The pair flat out refused, glaring at Scouts.

"Well, this time. The goblins didn't care for those two very much, but accepted them regardless when I explained that my wife was away." Scouts smirked, remembering the brawl in the village. "They honestly seemed more relieved that the thrall wasn't there."

"I see." Jordis returned to her food and focused instead on Sophie's animated explanation of her plans for tomorrow's festival. Apparently, Beans was going to let her try spiced wine.

Scouts felt himself slump in his seat, the tip of his tail twitching irritably. "I hope she comes down soon. I have to go meet with Jarl Elisif and General Tullius later tonight to discuss the next order and I was hoping she would come with me."

As long as she had sobered up, that is. Her actions around Momon had been embarrassing enough. Perhaps it was best he go himself and request that the General meet him tomorrow, but that was unlikely since everyone wanted to join in the festivities.

Still, he did not want to go alone. His wife was personal friends with the Jarl and was intimidating enough to keep Tullius at bay. He would need her when he gave his report. The village had no more food stores to trade. The people there were recovering from war, as Scouts had initially suspected, and did not have stores enough to continue to supply Solitude.

He had been told earlier by Jordis that his wife's dragon now supplied the city with meat, but that would not be enough. The trade route had been Scouts idea, and he would not let it fail. If he could talk to his wife, he could ask her about other nearby towns to present to the Jarl when he broke the news. It would look good on them to already have a plan.

"Scouts," Momon waved as he descended the stone steps, informing them he had finished his business upstairs and that he had been given permission to browse downstairs. Such a thing was no big deal, not when the man was obviously a friend to the family, but it embarrassed Scouts that Momon and Nabe turned down his invitation to dinner.

It wasn't as if they didn't know about the rationing. To think that others would see his family struggle and take pity made Scouts stomach burn. Despite that, he smiled. He wouldn't let his shame show. "Of course. Some other time, then."

"Poppa, who's that?" Sophie leaned across the table to get a good look at the dark warrior and his beautiful companion before they disappeared down the stairs.

"That's the warrior Momon, Sophie." Scouts turned and watched the steps to the upper floor, expecting his wife to appear any moment. "The one who helped me in the village. Don't you remember me telling you about him?"

"That's him?" Jordis raised one of her fair eyebrows and chuckled. "I'm glad he got the hole his armor fixed quickly."

"Whatever do you mean?" Scouts asked, turning his red eyes onto the housecarl. 

"Did he and momma fight a monster?" Sophie perked up. She was always excited to hear the tales of Beans’ many adventures. It was the thing she looked forward to the most when her mother came home.

"You should ask Lady Beans. She would tell the story better than me." Jordis stood and cleared her place at the table. "I'm going to assist Momon. If he's looking for ideas, he'll have a hard time finding anything with the way things are organized down there."

"I bet he and momma fought a giant!" Sophie bounced in her seat, fantasizing about what the story could possibly be. "What do you think, Sissel? Maybe it was mammoth or a dragon or-"

"Ugh, I don't care, Sophie." Sissel picked a piece of her bun apart and threw it at her sister. The blonde girl never cared much for stories of violence or monster slaying; she preferred stories of daring and heroism. It was understandable, given the household she had been rescued from. 

"Don't be boring, Sissel!" Sophie pouted and picked apart her food to throw. Scouts stopped the food fight with a glare before it could get it could get any messier. "It’s not fair, poppa! She doesn't care about anything if it's not clothes or music or-"

"Sophie, that's enough." Scouts said firmly, silencing the girl. "Sissel can like whatever she wants to, just like you."

"But I wanna hear momma's story!"

"So you can chase me around with that wooden sword and pretend you're a monster hunter?" Sissel scoffed, "No thanks."

Scouts ignored the girls. They would burn themselves out soon enough. He looked at the stairs again. It would be nice if his wife would come downstairs, but Scouts calmed himself. Try to trust. Leave her be. She chose you.

_ "You should check on her. _ " A sultry voice whispered in his ear. Scouts whipped around, looking for the source, but only saw the merrily crackling flames in the fireplace at his back. 

_ "Go upstairs."  _ The voice whispered again. 

Was this instinct? If it was, he wasn't about to ignore it; not when it was literally speaking to him. Mumbling, "Watch the girls," to the Dremora as he passed, Scouts quickly climbed the stone steps. The door to the master bedroom was shut.

Scouts quietly pressed his face against the wooden door, listening for conversation. The tip of his tail twitched irritably when he heard only silence. Screw trust. He wanted to know what was going on. Slowly, he turned the brass handle with his scaled hand. Praying that the door wouldn't squeak and give him away, Scouts pressed his eye to the crack he made and looked inside.

His wife laid next to the thrall on their bed. She seemed to be asleep, her dark eyes were closed and she snored gently, but the skeleton was sitting up, wide awake, and running his boney hand through her hair. 

How dare he touch her! That was his wife! HIS! Scouts gritted his fangs in anger, the feathers on his head twitching between his horns. His wife murmured in her sleep, rolling onto her back, and Scouts saw blood on her chest. He cursed.

"I knew you couldn't be trusted." Scouts growled, pushing the door open and revealing himself. 

Sans jumped, surprised, and took his hand back. Not quickly enough, it seemed. Scouts glared him down, murder burning in his red eyes.

"She just fell asleep, dude." Sans smiled, hoping to calm the angry Argonian. "Just finished catching me up on everything I missed and-"

"Oh yes, I'm sure you didn't do a thing to her." Scouts growled, his tail twitching faster. He reached behind the door, to the weapon rack he knew was hiding there, and pulled the first weapon he grasped - a golden sword - from the display. Dawnbreaker glowed at his touch, the blade sparking flames along it's keen edge. "That blood must have just appeared there by itself. Or was it after you had taken advantage of her? You disgusting abomination!"

Sans eyed the fire warily and felt his bones ache. Fear surged through him at the sound of Scouts tail thrashing against the floor. His body knew to expect pain at that sound. Why was Sans so scared? Something about Scouts' silky voice made him feel helpless, like there were chains tying him to the bed.

"I should have had you killed a long time ago," Scouts smiled, a crazed look in his eye. He ran at Sans, the burning sword held high above his horns. "I wonder if you'll bleed when your head is lopped off!"

Sans threw his hands above his head to protect himself. The blade bit deep into his arm and Sans winced as he felt the fire burn his bones. Something about this felt familiar, but Sans couldn't place from where. Beans murmured in her sleep, too drunk to wake up. Anger boiled up inside Sans. This was his fight. He had to protect her.

Cold fire blazed to life inside Sans' eye socket. He summoned a wall of bones to push the angry Argonian away, then summoned his special attack.

Sans wanted revenge. For all the insults, all the insinuations that he was just some mindless undead... for the pain his body remembered. 

The special summons hung above the bed, like a grinning dragon skull, and fired a beam of magical energy with enough force to knock items from their shelves and shake the walls. The white light pierced through Scouts, punching a hole through his stomach and splattering the wall with his insides. The Argonian touched the wound and brought fingers slick with blood to his face. Jaw open in surprise, Scouts dropped the blade and fell dead to the floor, blood leaking from his wound and into the carpet.

Sans panted heavily, sweat dripping from his brow. He felt better, seeing his rival dead. Then anxiety crept in as his anger left him and he realized what he had done.

_ Why did I do that?  _ Sans groaned, looking at the mess around the room. He shouldn't have lost his temper again. It just caused trouble. Now he had killed his best friend's jerk of a husband and, while he was glad for it, Beans obviously cared about the guy enough to marry him. 

_ "Isn't this what you wanted?" _ A man's sultry voice purred in his ear.  _ "To have him dead and out of your way? Till death do they part." _

Sans shook his head to rid himself of the voice, laughter ringing in his ear. As much as he hated to admit it, he agreed with what he assumed was his conscience, even if his head felt like he had done something wrong. It’s not like death was permanent. Beans had resurrection magic and, as long as there was a body, could bring Scouts back. But if Scouts talked, if Beans found out Sans killed her husband…

She always fixed his mistakes. Beans fixed the Underground, then returned when he failed to protect his family and friends to save him from himself. Then again, when he messed up in Cairn, she had vanished to fix the problems he had caused.  _ But this,  _ Sans held his skull in his shaking hands,  _ I don't think she'd forgive me for this. ...I have to hide it. I don't want to be left alone. Not again. I can't take it. _

"Is everything all right?" Jordis called up from the stairwell. Sans jumped out of bed, tripping on a basket and scattering tomatoes across the floor. He had just managed to reach the door and hide the scene inside the bedroom before Jordis poked her head in. Sans kept an eye light on her through a crack in the door, closing it more as the housecarl tried to peak inside. "What happened?"

"Eh, tripped." Sans laughed nervously. "Tipped over a weapon rack. You don't want to come in. There are swords everywhere."

"Is everyone all right?" Jordis narrowed her gaze, suspicious. "The girls told me Scouts had come up."

"Yeah, he uh, left." Sans felt himself begin to sweat again. "Beans is sleeping so he said he'd stop by later."

"I see." Jordis nodded. "He did mention at dinner that he had business at the Blue Palace. Try to be more careful, Sans. Lady Beans was a wreck when you wouldn't wake up. I'd hate to imagine her if you accidentally impaled yourself."

Jordis turned and went back down the stairs. Breathing a sigh of relief, Sans shut the door and leaned against it. The bedroom was a mess. He would have to clean everything and dispose of the body before Beans woke up. Sans groaned. He hated cleaning. Remembering his hunger, Sans picked up a tomato and ate the fruit in one large bite, juices running down his jawbone. Selecting another and savoring the flavor, he picked tomatoes off the floor and put them back into the basket he had knocked over. It was woven out of something like tree bark, with a carved rose emblem attached to the front.

Smiling at the sleeping elf, Sans activated his magic. The room became a whirlwind of objects. Shelves picked themselves up and leaned against the wall, swords slid back into their displays, and books shuffled back into place. The room looked just like it had before, if you didn't count the blood spatter and dead body.

"Now, what to do with this no-body?"

~~~

_ Earth rushed beneath her, her paws carrying her through the forest as fast as a shooting star, as silent as a black ghost. The scent of blood carried on the wind. It drove her mad. She had to hunt, had to tear flesh from bone and taste their still beating hearts. _

_ Her prey faltered up ahead, its cry of fear stirring the wolf to greater speeds. Two small forms appeared through the trees, one helping the other up off the ground to flee. It would not work. She would get them both. _

_ Bursting through the shadows, the wolf leapt onto the two small creatures and tore at their throats, white fangs flashing as red mist sprayed all over the leaves, their screams turning into gurgles as they drowned in their own blood. One of the prey looked up at her, tears in its eyes, a small hand reaching out. _

_ “M-momma…” _

Beans bolted up, chest heaving. Something was ensnaring her, and she fought against it viciously.

“Woah, woah! Calm down!” A deep voice reached out and grabbed at the dark green sheets wrapped around her limbs. “Beans, it’s okay. It’s Sans. Stop trying to hit me.”

“S-sans?” Beans stammered, ceasing her struggling and letting the skeleton extract her from the sheets. Once her arms were free, she pulled her friend close and hugged him tight, burying her face in his robes. “Oh Sans,” she choked, her eyes filling with tears, “I hate being a werewolf. I hate these dreams.”

“Nightmares?” Sans guessed. Beans nodded. He sighed and pet her head to calm her. “I hear ya. I had this bad one when I was out. There was fire, and some kind of demon… but they’re just dreams, you hear me? They’re not real.”

Nodding, Beans blinked the tears from her eyes and tried to breathe deeply. Sans’ robes smelled like musk and something acidic. Tomatoes? With a jolt, Beans realized how close she was to Sans. Her cheeks flushed, Beans pulled away and cleared her throat awkwardly as she remembered her drunk actions the night before.

“S-so is that why you’re up?” Beans looked out the window at the dark sky, at the snow falling, anywhere but him. She was ashamed of herself for acting like she did. She had a husband, for crying out loud! “The nightmares?”

“Uh, no. Just couldn’t sleep.” Sans felt his cheekbones turn blue, betraying his nerves, and he hid a bloody rag behind his person. “I was, um, cleaning.”

“Cleaning?” Beans raised her eyebrows in surprise at the short skeleton. “You?”

“Well,” Sans avoided her gaze and Beans felt her stomach sink. She felt had definitely made things awkward between them, acting like she did. “I mean, I was asleep for a week. Might as well do something now that I’m up.”

“H-hey, Sans?” Beans stammered, nervous. She would rather not talk about it, would rather forget it ever happened, but Sans wouldn’t even look at her. It wouldn’t do either of them any good putting this off. They were best friends. Hopefully, he understood. “I’m sorry about last night. I was drunk and acted like an idiot.”

“Yeah, you were!” Sans laughed awkwardly, his cheekbones turning a darker blue. “I could barely understand your slurring!”

“N-no, I mean, about…” Beans felt her face turn as hot as a forge. “Y-you know what I mean.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it.” Sans caught her gaze and held it. Beans was sure that if her face got any hotter it would start an actual fire. “No, I mean it. You’re stuttering worse than Alphys. Besides,” he added, his gaze dropping to the floor, “you make one hell of an alarm clock.”

“Breakfast!” Beans shouted, jumping to her feet. Sans fell back onto the floor in surprise. “We need breakfast! Let’s see if there are any burgers left!”

“Huh?” Sans quickly stuffed his rag under the mattress, hoping that there weren’t any spots left that he missed.

“I made them for dinner last night, for...” Beans stopped herself before she said something that would make her embarrassment worse and left the bedroom in a hurry, hoping to leave the weird conversation behind. “I didn’t have tomatoes though, so no ketchup.”

“You mean the ones by the bed?” Sans ran to catch up with her and succeeded in running into her when she stopped suddenly. They fell together in a tangle of limbs, both of their faces burning.

“What do you mean?” Beans asked, her face as red as the fruits she asked about.

“There was a whole basket by the bed.” Sans got to his feet and offered Beans a hand. “I, uh, kind of ate them all when I got up. To clean.”

“Fucking Sanguine.” Beans muttered under her breath, gratefully accepting Sans’ help. “Take my advice, Sans, and never drink with a Daedric Prince.”

“What made you think that was a good idea in the first place?” Sans laughed and kept his distance, to avoid running into her again, as the two made their way into the kitchen. “Is that the same guy who got you so drunk you tried to marry a hagraven? Haha! And trash the temple of Dibella?”

“Yes, I turn into a total asshat when I get drunk.” Beans grumbled and searched the kitchen for food. There weren’t any burgers left over for dinner, so she gathered up ingredients to make a simple leek soup. That, at least, she knew she could make well enough. “I’m hilarious.”

“Among other things.” Sans sighed and watched Beans bend over to light a fire with her magic. It was nice, having just the two of them there. He wished it could stay like this.

“My Lady, you’re awake.” A gravelly voice said, catching the two by surprise. Beans turned from the leeks she was chopping and found the Dremora twins standing in the kitchen in full daedric armor, their weapons hanging on their backs.

“Good morning!” Beans said cheerfully, gathering up more potatoes to chop into rough chunks. “Are you hungry… eh…” With a jolt, she realised she had never give the twins names, nor asked if they had any. She had been too eager to go off and look for Sans after summoning them to do more than give them orders to protect Scouts. “Drax? Lex?”

“Are those supposed to be our names, my Lady?” The one with the two handed sword, Lex, Beans decided, asked. She nodded.

“We don’t deserve them.” The one with the warhammer, Drax, bowed his head in shame. “You gave us the order to protect the Argonian, and we have failed.”

“Failed?” Beans asked, pausing before she dumped her potatoes into the simmering cauldron. Sans felt his skull begin to sweat. He pictured the twins finding the body, of Beans throwing him out onto the street. Her disgust at his actions. His hands started to shake and he folded them in his lap to hide them.

“Yes.” Drax nodded. “We have lost him. He told us to watch the human children, and we did until the human woman relieved us.

“We searched the streets, but found no sign of him.” Lex also bowed his head in shame.

“The Blue Palace!” Sans said suddenly, remembering what Jordis had said and jumped in before the twins could say anything more. “Jordis said he went to the Blue Palace for some business or something!”

“Did he?” Beans wondered what kind of business could keep Scouts at the palace through the night. Then again, with Tullius around and wanting to argue every point, it made sense. “Well, our first meeting there took all night. I really don’t want to deal with Tullius, though. Don’t worry about it. Drax, Lex, why don’t you sit down and I’ll make you something to eat?”

“That would be appreciated.” Lex removed his giant sword and set it near the table as he sat next to Sans. “Even though we don’t need to eat. Or sleep, for that matter.”

“The Argonian never offered us anything.” Drax leaned his warhammer against the wall and took a seat next to his brother. “Just complaints about you, my Lady.”

“Me?” Beans’ eyebrows disappeared into her messy red hair.

“Indeed, much as I hate to admit it.” Lex shook his head in disapproval. “I would have parted his head from his shoulders if you had not ordered us to protect him.”

“Or crushed his weak mortal ribs!” Drax growled and slammed a fist on the table, shaking the silverware and knocking over an empty goblet.

“Stop it, Drax, before you break something.” Beans brought everyone a bowl of steaming soup before sitting down to eat some herself. “I know Scouts is probably mad at me. I kind of left him hanging when…” she looked sideways at Sans. “Well, when I ran off. Then he found me drunk and acting like an idiot. I’d be mad at me too. Let him do his thing at the Palace and cool off. I’ll find him later with Clairvoyance.”

Sans inhaled sharply, choking on his soup. Beans thumped him on the back until he could breathe normally, but he still felt like all the wind had left him. He had forgotten that Beans could find anything she wanted with magic. It was stupid of him to forget. She had just told Sans it was how she found him in a world they didn’t know. He had hid the body well, but it would be found with that spell. 

“You okay, Sans?” Beans asked, watching him. He was glad he didn’t have skin, or he would have looked pale.

“F-fine.” Sans stammered, his mind racing to find anything that would distract Beans from thoughts about Scouts. “So, um, what happened to Momon? He was there when I woke up, wasn’t he?”

“I don’t know. I owe him some equipment for waking you up, though.” Beans drifted off, wondering what she should make for the warrior. He already had a full set of matching armor, and weapons. Perhaps an enchanted ring or necklace? But if he already had that slot filled, then it wouldn’t be a fair trade. “It would be nice to talk to him, to see what he wants.”

“The dark warrior and his woman left for the tavern.” Lex offered as Drax noisily slurped soup. Sans breathed a sigh of relief. “I would like to test myself against him. He seems like a powerful foe.”

“I wouldn’t do that.” Beans stood and cleared the empty bowls from the table. “He seems like a decent guy, really.”

“You think so?” Sans hardly thought that a man that murderous could be called even halfway decent. Had Beans forgotten what happened in Cairn?

“Yeah. After what happened in the village, we fought about it and-”

“You  _ fought _ ?” Sans felt his jaw drop open. “What about his Love?”

“It didn’t really matter in the end. I kicked his ass and taught him a thing or two about threatening my best friend.” Beans chuckled, remembering the fight fondly as she wiped the dishes clean with a rag. “He was a good sport about it, too. Even though I punched a hole in his chest.”

“You punched…?” Sans said weakly, sliding down in his seat. She had done that to a guy for threatening him? What would she do to Sans, if she found out what he did to her husband? Sans felt the soup he had just eaten turn over.

“As expected of our Lady!” Drax laughed triumphantly. “To crush such weaklings with your bare fists, you truly have our envy!”

“We will serve you faithfully, my Lady.” Lex bowed his horned head. “You and your might.”

“Well, this might wants a bath.” Beans stacked the clean dishes on the counter and brushed at her wrinkled dress. “Jordis mentioned some time ago that there’s a rain barrel outside on the porch that I can use.”

“We’ll carry it in for you, my Lady.” Lex jumped to his feet and, Drax at his heels, went to retrieve the barrel. Snow flew into the sitting room when they opened the door and Beans shivered at the thought of the cold. Looking to Sans, she noticed how far he had slumped down in his seat. His ever present smile was gone and his hands shook.

“Sans?” Beans put a hand on her friend’s shoulder. He jumped at her touch. “Are you okay? You seem tense.”

“F-fine.” Sans stammered, looking down at the floor. Beans felt guilt bubble up. 

“Look, if you’re worried about anything happening to you, it’s not gonna happen. We’re sticking together through everything. I’m never leaving you alone again.” Beans smiled at Sans as he looked up at her, a weak grin on his face. “I mean it! If you want to be there, I’ll make it happen.”

“So... you think that barrel is big enough for the both of us?” Sans watched Beans’ face turn red again, her dark eyes wide, and laughed. “I’m joking!”

“That’s not funny, Sans!”

Beans stormed off down the stairs to the basement, soon followed by the returning Dremora twins and the sloshing barrel of rainwater. Sans was left alone upstairs, and he was more than okay with that. He had a puzzle to think on. Sans collapsed into one of the wooden chairs in the sitting room and stared outside at the flurry of snow. The windows rattled in their frames as the snowstorm outside picked up strength. The twins soon joined him, and Sans ignored their mumblings to each other about who could best Momon in a battle.

An hour later, Beans returned to the main floor. A silver and emerald circled graced her brow, and her wet hair was tied back in a braid. The red dress was gone. In its place, she wore long, flowing charcoal robes. A large triangle cut cloth with fur lining draped over her shoulders. Sans recognized it as the uniform for the arch mage.

“Jordis, you can’t keep sleeping on a bedroll.” Beans said to the housecarl at her side, continuing the argument they were having. “I feel awful that you’ve had it this long and didn’t say anything!”

“My Lady, please, I prefer it.” Jordis smiled and bowed her head respectfully. “I appreciate the thought, but if I slept too soundly I wouldn’t wake up if there was a break in.”

“Still…”

“Don’t worry about it, my Lady.”

“At least let me make you some new armor.” Beans scrutinized the low level iron chestplate that Jordis usually wore. “If you insist on not having a proper bed, it’s the least I could do.”

“If that is what you want, then I’ll accept the gift. However, if you and Sans are visiting Momon, you should hurry and get back before the girls wake up. They’ll be disappointed if you don’t take them to the festival today.”

“Festival?” Sans asked, pointing out the window at the flurry, “In this?”

“Nords aren’t bothered by the cold.” Jordis laughed and tossed a heavy black cloak to Sans for him to wear. “Although I’m sure the bonfire will make things better for you and Lady Beans.”

“Bonfire?” Sans smiled. That gave him an idea.

“Come on, Sans,” Beans said and pulled the dark hood of her robes over her head. “I don’t want to be outside longer than we have to. Drax, Lex; Jordis is in charge while I’m gone. She’ll be nice to you, so do what she says, okay?”

“My Lady!” The twins chorused in their rough voices, bowing to their master as she and Sans left the house and into the frigid streets.

Snow crunched under their boots as the pair fought the winds towards the tavern. Despite the freezing temperatures, Sans paused and looked around at the frost covered buildings. Some of the windows were beginning to light up as people stoked their fires. Even though the sky was still dark from the cloud cover, he could guess that it must be near dawn.

“Sans?” Beans had stopped to wait several paces away, looking back at him.

“It reminds me of Snowdin.” Sans ran to catch up, stuffing his cold hands in his cloak. He missed his mittens. “Don’t you think?”

“Yeah, it does.” Beans looked around at the stone houses. They looked like cakes with too much icing. “I feel like Papyrus is gonna jump out and offer me some spaghetti.”

Sans smiled bitterly and stared off into the swirling snow. What he wouldn’t give to have a reset, to have his brother back. But Papyrus had died after Beans had left the Underground, so he knew that there was no way to bring him back. She couldn’t even use Resurrection, since she needed a body for the magic to work, and his brother was nothing but dust. If only Scouts was dust and Papyrus was a body, that would solve so many of Sans’ problems. What if someone found the stupid lizard in the barrel Sans stuffed him in? What if someone saw him toss it into the bonfire, or if Beans used her finding spell before he could get rid of it?

Beans stepped in front of Sans, cutting him off. “Okay, I know something is wrong.” She said, crossing her arms and looking down at him with a stern expression. “You’ve had that weird look on your face ever since I woke up and found you cleaning. What’s going on, Sans?”

“N-nothing!” Sans stammered. Beans narrowed her onyx eyes at him. “I was, um, thinking about Papyrus.”

“You were?”

“Yeah,” Sans avoided her gaze, looking instead at the street lamps and the candles sputtering feebly inside them. “He was the one that cleaned the house all the time.”

After what seemed like a long while, Beans’ gaze softened. “You really miss him, don’t you?”

“Y-yeah.” Sans breathed a sigh of relief as Beans took his hand and lead him through the deepening snow.

She would find a way. She didn’t know how, but seeing her friend hurt gave her determination to try. They walked together in silence. Beans was so absorbed in her thoughts, going over lines of code in her head, that she didn’t notice they had reached the Winking Skeever until Sans pushed her inside.


	8. Ch 8 - A Festival in the Snow

Ch 8 - A Festival in the Snow

The Winking Skeever was just as empty of patrons as the last time Beans visited. The bartender, Corpulus, swept the stone floors with a scowl under his copper-colored beard and grumbled under his breath. If he didn’t get more booze, or a steady stream of visitors, his business would go under.

“He’s in the room second to the left,” Corpulus growled when Beans asked him if Momon and Nabe had spent the night. He jerked his thumb at the closed door across the bar room. “Take them with you, if you can. No point in keeping the tavern open if there’s no one in it. I’m going to the festival today.”

Beans thanked the man and found Momon’s room. She stared at the worn wood and iron handle, unable to bring herself to knock. She had made a fool of herself last night, and was sure that Momon thought less of her since he hadn’t stuck around after helping Sans. It was a strange feeling; giving Momon an apology should be simple enough, but it felt a lot easier when she had talked to Sans. Even though Sans was still acting a little weird himself today.

Looking over her shoulder, Beans watched Sans harass Corpulus with his jokes (“I thought you were a horse, with that long face!”) and felt slightly more confident. It didn’t matter if Momon wouldn’t forgive her. She had everyone that mattered by her side, her best friend, her new family... why should she seek anyone else’s approval? Steeling herself, Beans knocked.

“Momon? Are you - oh!” The door opened suddenly in her face and candlelight poured out into the dark bar room. Momon stood before her, dressed in his black, full plate armor. His swords leaned against the far wall. “Sorry, did I just wake you?”

“No,” Momon looked down at her, examining her new charcoal-colored robes. Nabe glared at Beans from the bed she sat on, holding a book she appeared to be reading upside down. Both beds appeared to have been already made. “I’ve been up for awhile. Can’t you see that I’m fully dressed?”

“Hey, I’ve slept in my armor before,” Beans chuckled nervously, aware of the tension Momon’s voice. Best to just get it over with if she could. “Look, Momon, I’m sorry about the way I acted yesterday.”

Momon contemplated her for a long moment before saying, “We all make mistakes. I’m sure you were just worried about your friend.”

“Yes! Thank you for understanding!” Beans laughed, feeling immense relief. Despite his rather intimidating appearance, Momon was a pretty cool guy. “I wanted to stop by and talk to you about that item I’m going to make you and to invite you to the festival today. Do you have plans?”

“A festival? For what?” Momon followed Beans out of the doorway and into the dimly lit bar room. He stopped suddenly when he spotted Sans, who was telling a disgruntled Corpulus another joke.

“It’s the Burning of King Olaf.” Beans explained and sat at one of the circular, wooden tables. 

Momon looked at her next, clearly startled. “You burn your kings?”

“Just the one. He was a terrible king, though. Tyrannical, iron fist, all that.” Beans started to tell the story, but drifted off when she realized Momon had returned his attention to Sans and continued to stare. “Something wrong, Momon?”

“You’re friend isn’t wearing his mask.” Momon sat at the small table with Beans and watched the bartender with interest. The man leaned on his broom, unknowingly breaking the small bundle of twigs at its base, and listened to the short skeleton’s puns. Rather than being terrified of the skeleton, he just seemed tired.

“I don’t know what a ginger is,” Corpulus sighed and ran his fingers through his copper colored hair. He would need to make himself a strong drink from his personal stash once the dragonborn’s summons left him alone.

“Come on, buddy! You’re a ginger! She’s a ginger!” Sans pointed towards Beans and her rose red hair. “Ginger  _ bread _ man! Now do you get it?”

“She is a woman, not a man. So no, I don’t.”

“My talent is wasted on these people!” Sans complained as he sat at the table with Momon and Beans, his arms crossed. Eyeing the dark warrior with narrowed eye lights, he asked, “Hey Momon, what do you call a redhead that works at a bakery?”

“A gingerbread man!” Beans finished the pun and roared with laughter now that she heard the whole joke. “I get it!” Sans joined her with his melodic chuckle, doubling over with renewed laughter when he spotted Corpulus’ confused look. 

“How are these people not afraid of you?” Momon asked, his curiosity spiking as he watched the human bartender shake his head at the skeleton and elf laughing their heads off. Back in his room, Momon heard Nabe slam her book shut in irritation. She hated puns.

“Why would they be?” Sans leaned back in his chair, happy that he had gotten somebody to laugh today. “I’m not violent or, um…” Sans drifted off and his gaze fell. He turned to stare out the fogged up window. Momon wondered what had happened that could make the skeleton so subdued. He seemed much more full of himself back in Carne.

“Come on Sans, everyone knows you’re a good person.” Beans smiled warmly at the crestfallen skeleton, thinking he was down on himself because of the constant reminders of his undead appearance. “The people in Solitude can be set in their ways, but they’ll come around to anything eventually. Look at the Dremora twins and Arvak. Look at me! I’m probably as off the wall as they get, by these people’s standards, and they let me buy a house here.”

“Your city is very strange, I’ll give it that.” Momon nodded, “I wouldn’t mind seeing more of it.”

“So you’ll come to the festival?” Beans caught the impatient look Corpulus shot at her from behind the bar and rose from her seat. “We can stop by my house first, just to work out the details of what you want me to make you, then head over to the Bard’s College next door.”

“Yes. It sounds interesting, at the very least.” Momon nodded and beckoned for Nabe to grab his swords and follow them out into the snow filled streets. A festival, with the whole family attending, would be a great opportunity to search the house. As they wound around a large snow drift in the market, he asked casually, “Will Scouts be there? I plan on leaving soon, but I believe I promised him some advice and would like to make good on that before I depart.”

“I’m not sure, I haven’t spoke him since you guys got me from the Skeever.” Beans shouted over the wind and shook her head, her dark hood shedding the quickly accumulating snow. Beside her, Sans’ foot caught his long, black cloak and he stumbled. “You haven’t seen him?”

“No.”

“Hm,” Beans pulled her grey, fur-lined hood down over her face as a strong gust of wind and snow buffeted them. The ice felt like tiny needles on her exposed face and hands. “He could still be at the Palace talking to the Jarl. I should go check on him and see if he’s coming.”

“I’m sure he’ll come around when he’s done.” Sans pulled his cloak tighter around himself and shivered. “Don’t worry about it, Beans.”

“If he is talking to your Jarl about what happened at the village, it makes sense that a meeting could take awhile.” Momon brushed at the snow building up on his armor, clearing it. “Perhaps he didn’t need my advice after all.”

“What happened at the village?” Beans asked, holding the basement door of the manor open for the party to tromp inside. Snow swirled in after them on the wind and melted on the warm stone walls. With a grunt, she closed the door on the gale and huddled around the small fire near the alchemy table. Sans shook next to her, looking between her and Momon and back again.

“Didn’t Scouts tell you?” Momon asked, gently brushing the snow off a pink-faced Nabe. “The village is out of surplus supplies. They aren’t able to trade any more with this city.”

“WHAT?” Beans jumped, smacking her face against the metal flue over the fire and burning her forehead. Healing herself with a burst of golden magic, she asked, “Why wouldn’t he tell me that?”  _ Actually, I think he tried to. I was just so focused on Sans I totally blew him off. _ Beans groaned. “Nevermind. I guess I just have another person I have to apologize to.”

“You don’t seem like the planning type, but I’m sure your husband has an idea of what to do.” Momon reassured Beans as she sat on the alchemy table with her face in her hands. He did feel kind of bad for the elf player. He would probably be in a similar situation if he didn’t have those in Nazarick to help him. “Why else would he take so long?”

“You’re probably right.” Beans sighed, stood up, and looked for something to keep busy with. Something that would make her feel useful. “I guess I’ll just wait for him to come back and do what I can to help then. In the meantime, Momon, your item. What do you want? I can see you have armor and weapons. Do you want an enchanted ring? I can’t tell if you’re wearing one with those gauntlets on.”

“I'm not sure. I didn’t get any ideas from your equipment down here.” Momon reached into his cloak to retrieve two lavender colored crystals. He handed them to Beans and said, “You said you wanted materials, but will just these do? I noticed your crystals are already full of data. Why don’t you make whatever you like and surprise me?”

“Hm,” Beans hummed and studied the crystals in the firelight. They didn’t look much different from a grand soul gem, aside from their color being closer to purple than blue. Momon said hers were full of data. Did he mean souls? That phrasing seemed off to her, even knowing that Momon was from Yggdrasil. NPCs wouldn’t know what data was or meant. Not even Sans understood it, and he had more knowledge about those things than anyone besides-

“Momma!” A little voice shouted, interrupting Beans’ thoughts. The girls stomped down the stairs, followed shortly by Jordis and the twins. The girls pushed each other out of the way and rushed their mother with a hug. Sophie buried her face in Beans’ charcoal robes while Sissel looked up and smiled widely. “The festival is today! Can we go help set up? Can we? I want to introduce you to Pantea. She’s teaching me how to play the flute!”

“I don’t mind, Sissel.” Beans looked helplessly at Sans, Momon, and Nabe; her expression clearly saying she felt bad asking for their efforts with the festival. Thankfully, Momon offered his assistance and expressed his interest in Solitude’s culture.

The dragonborn household, Momon, and (reluctantly) Nabe, were all in agreement to brave the storm. Beans assured Momon that she would make his item after the festival. She then took a moment with Jordis to dress the two young girls in thick cloaks, scarves, and hats. Too soon, Beans thought, they were all back outside in the blizzard.

Despite the sky looking quite stormy, the Bard’s College was a flurry of activity. The students hurried around the courtyard, heads bent against the wind, as they fought the falling snow to keep a clear space for the wickerman they laid in the center. Beans was pulled away by Sissel to a group under a stone awning with Sophie slipping on the icy stones as she tried to keep up. The torches on the wall of the college sputtered and struggled to stay lit in the howling blizzard. Jordis, spotting more students struggling with clearing the courtyard, called for Drax and Lex to come help. The students edged away from the dark twins with wary looks, gripping their shovels tightly, and even going so far as to work on the opposite side of the courtyard to put distance between them. Sans stood alone with Momon and Nabe, not wanting to do any work.

“Are they really going to have a festival in this?” Momon asked, watching the humans struggle against the weather. Ainz could change it with a spell, but he wasn’t going to take off his armor to do so.

“Yeah, seems a bit much.” Sans agreed, his teeth chattering. He really needed that bonfire to happen before he could rest a little easier. Raising his voice and waving his arms to grab the elf’s attention, he yelled, “Hey, Beans! Think you could clear the skies or something?”

Beans nodded from across the courtyard, indicating she had heard Sans. Momon watched as she said something to the humans surrounding her and they all took a step back.

A noise like a thunderclap shuttered through the howling winds around the College. Icicles broke and fell into snowbanks, drifts fell off the roof and buried the unprepared students, who were helped out of the deep snow by the Dremora twins. To Momon’s amazement, the skies lost their angry, steel colored clouds and gave way to sunlight and soft grey skies. Ainz had used Control Weather before himself, but never with that effect.

The members of the college cheered as they saw the weather turn for the better. Many of them rushed over to offer thanks to the elf woman. Some even acted more friendly to the Dremora Lords and smiled as they worked together to move the snow up against the stone walls. Ainz watched all this, fascinated that these humans should so readily accept the help of what looked like a pair of demons. They had just seemed so reluctant around them, Ainz wondered, so what had changed?

Townspeople started trickling into the courtyard, staring at the sky with amazement or shaking snow off their clothes. Some carried colored sheets to hang as banners, wives helped their husbands carry chairs, and everyone brought food and wine. The students of the college huddled beneath the stone canopy to retrieve their instruments and start tuning them. Sissel and Sophie broke away from Beans to play with the other children as they arrived. The elf was pulled away by a group of men to help erect the wickerman.

A roar echoed through the sky, followed by another. People stopped what they were doing and pointed up, or stood there with their mouths hanging open and eyes wide. Momon looked up and grabbed his swords as he spotted two dragons circling, Nabe readying herself at his side.

“Easy there, buddy.” Sans chuckled at their reactions and watched the winged monsters, wondering if they had come because they had heard the Shout. “Beans won’t be too happy with you if you attack her dragons. You better put those away.”

“Won’t they attack the people..?” Momon trailed off, watching one of the dragons, its scales a light green like that of spring leaves, land on the walls of the city and balance itself on the stones like a bird on a branch. Its huge, serpentine head snaked into the courtyard and it dropped a dead deer into the snow. Cheers rose up from the city dwellers and Beans raced over to hug the dragon’s massive snout while some women retrieved the animal. Nabe looked to Momon for orders, and he held up his hand for her to stand down. He himself watched the other dragon, its scales a vibrant red like autumn leaves, land on top of Beans’ house to roost and watch the activity below.

This was just too strange. Looking to Sans, Momon said, “I don’t understand. When Scouts and I were travelling together, he told me that your people hated and feared monsters. Yet you walk around without a mask. Those Dremora creatures help and are not hunted, and dragons land in the middle of a festival to cheers instead of screams.”

“That’s Beans for ya,” Sans chuckled, watching the crowds of people share their precious rations and fill their goblets with wine. One of the girls, Sophie, was brave enough to try and touch the green dragon, but fell back and hid behind her mother’s cloak. “She can change anyone’s mind, if she really wants to.”

“Why? What does she gain, going out of her way like that?” Momon asked. Nabe leaned forward to hear, curious herself.

“I don’t really know.” Sans shrugged. “She’s been like that ever since she was a kid. Making friends with monsters is just what she does. If I had to guess,” Sans added, his low voice tinged with sadness, “I think she just wants a world where we can live side by side.”

“But she kills monsters, doesn’t she?” Momon sheathed his swords, his mind in overdrive. “She summoned you, and those Dremora, and the horse to do her bidding. How can she make a world like that if she enslaves those she says she wants to befriend?”

“I’m not a summons.” Sans said darkly, the lights in his eye sockets vanishing as he stared Momon down. “Or an undead, or a thrall, or anything like that. Scouts was wrong. I have free will, and so does everything else here. No one is a slave to anyone else.”

“Even the dragons?”

“Them too.” Sans grumbled and looked back at the green dragon, wondering where it had come from. Beans had mentioned she looked for him on dragonback, but he assumed it had been the red one, Ohdaviing. “I don’t know about the green one, but Beans earned the respect of the red dragon, and he swore loyalty to her. I heard it myself.”

“Fascinating.” Momon looked at the crowd, at Beans, in new light. He had an idea, an even better one than his plan before, and he would need the elf’s help to do it.

“Hey!” Beans called out, running through the snow to them, her breath coming out in great puffs of mist. “We’re just about to get started here. Sans! You lazybones! Have you really just been standing here the whole time?”

“I was keeping Momon and Nabe company.” The skeleton grinned. Beans rolled her eyes at him and sighed.

“Well, we need more firewood. They’re about to light the wickerman and get things going.” Beans rubbed her hands together, their pale color an almost light blue from the cold. “I hate to ask you Nabe, but-”

“I’ll get it!” Sans volunteered, surprising Beans. “Hey, I don’t want you thinking I’m a lazybones, right?” 

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay?” Beans asked as Sans turned to leave.

“It’ll be just a minute.” Sans waved to her, backpedaling out of the courtyard. “I know some barrels behind the house we aren’t using that would be great for this!”

“Okay then…” Beans watched Sans leave, wondering if she should follow. She didn’t want him to be alone and disappear again. Ohdaviing, watching everything from the rooftop, caught her eye and nodded, turning his massive body to watch Sans. If he was watching over her friend, then Beans didn’t need to worry. Dragons were the strongest creatures in Skyrim, after all. “Well, then, um, Nabe? The band needs help setting up, if you want to help with that?”

Nabe looked to Momon, who gave his permission with a nod. The stern looking woman made a beeline for the stone awning, her black ponytail and brown cloak trailing behind her.

“What should I do?” Momon offered, eager to get on Beans’ good side and put his plan into action.

“You and I need to talk.” Beans’ voice dropped low as she stared the warrior down, her onyx eyes flashing. “I know who you are.”

~~~

Sans hummed to himself as he walked towards the back of the manor, patting Arvak on the skull as he passed the undead horse’s paddock. Dozens of barrels were stored just beyond it, under the stone porch, and there was one in particular that he was keen on getting rid of as soon as possible.

“It’ll all be over soon.” Sans laughed as he used his magic to cast Telekinesis and pull the first barrel out of hiding.

“What will?”

Sans jumped and his magic faltered. The barrel fell to the ground with a hollow thud and rolled towards the stone walls of the manor. Turning, Sans saw Ohdaviing staring at him from the roof, his yellow, cat-like eyes watching him without blinking.

Ohdaviing’s serpentine neck stretched until his head was close enough to Sans that he could count the scales between the dragon’s nostrils. The dragon chuckled, his voice rough like rocks scraping together. “Am I catching you at something, skeleton?”

“N-no.” Despite the cold, Sans felt himself begin to sweat. 

“Hm, you say that,” The dragon breathed deeply, his breath pulling the air off of Sans, and smiled his cruel, fang filled smile. “but you stink of blood and fear. What have you been doing, I wonder?”

“Nothing!” Sans’ eye lights darted around the alley, looking for anything that could distract the dragon.

“I wouldn’t say that.” The dragon chuckled again. “There is something you are hiding under the porch, isn’t there? Oh yes,” The dragon nodded his massive head. He enjoyed watching the skeleton before him shake. “I can smell the blood you wear. The flesh you hide is freezing there beneath the stones. Perhaps I should dig it out…?” Ohdaviing snaked his head towards the porch, his jaws opened wide to pull the barrels out.

“Don’t!” Sans summoned his magic, creating a wall of bones between Ohdaviing and the porch. The dragon tutted him.

“That is a dangerous game you play, skeleton.” The dragon growled, his lip curling back over his fangs. “The Soul Eater forbid me to attack you, but agreed that I could defend myself. I have half a mind to be offended.”

“Beans would hunt you down if you hurt me, and you know it.” Sans held his ground, his left socket alight with blue magic. If it came to it, if he had to, he would fight the dragon. He couldn’t kill it, since dragons couldn’t die if their soul was not consumed… Sans stopped himself. What then? Ohdahviing would surely come back to life and tell Beans everything, and Sans would be thrown away. She may call him her best friend, but he wasn’t that anymore. What kind of person would attack and kill their friend’s family? He would have killed her way back when, without a doubt, if she had ever hurt Papyrus.

“Oh? And you don’t think she would do the same to you?” Ohdaviing’s words reflected Sans’ thoughts and shot fear into his soul. The flame in his eye socket vanished as his magic faltered again. “I know this one’s scent. It’s the Argonian, the one taken in by the Soul Eater. So you killed him, did you? And you fear the Soul Eater’s wrath. ...I see. Perhaps I should leave you, and tell her?”

“No, please!” Sans banished his magic. The wall of bones vanished instantly. “Don’t tell her, I’ll do anything!” He didn't want to be alone again. More than anything, he didn't want Beans to hate him.

“Hm,” The dragon hummed, pleased to have a mortal begging for his mercy. It reminded him of old times, when dragons were worshiped by mortals. Ohdaviing liked this game and wanted to drag it out. It was easy to guess that the skeleton before him would do anything for the Soul Eater’s approval. “What could you offer me that I don’t already have?”

“What do you want?” Sans’ hands shook. This sin would never leave him, would forever crawl on his back, and he hated it. The feeling was made all the worse when he pictured Beans’ disappointment in him, her hatred when she found out he had hurt those she loved after she had done everything, had died so many times, to save those he had cared for. He just wanted to be with her. To lie in the grass stargazing, or to ride through the mountains on the same horse. To have her next to him in bed, sleeping gently while he ran his fingers through her hair...

“Two things.” Ohdaviing growled, snapping his jaws to catch Sans’ attention. “First, you will never ride on my back again. I bend my will for the Soul Eater only.” 

“Done.” It was easy to agree with never flying again. The first time was hardly enjoyable, but Sans had a feeling that Ohdaviing’s second request wasn’t going to be anything easy. “And the other thing?”

Ohdaviing smiled, a terrifying display of white fangs as long as swords that made Sans shiver. “Manflesh.”

“...what?”

“You heard me.” Ohdaviing snorted in irritation, ice shooting from his nostrils and covering Sans in frost. “I want the one thing I cannot have, the thing that the Soul Eater forbid me from hunting myself. But you can bring it to me. She did not forbid that. I will even be kind to you and help you with your crime. Accept my deal and offer me what you hide, and it shall disappear forever behind my jaws. I shall keep your secret for as long as you bring me fresh meat.”

“No, I can’t do that.” Sans backed against the wooden walls of Arvak’s paddock, horrified. The undead horse leaned over the walls to nuzzle Sans' skull, hoping for pets, but Sans could only stare at the ground in shock.

“Those are my terms.” Ohdaviing huffed. His long red tail swayed with enjoyment from his game and knocked snow from the roof onto the small skeleton. “Or do you love the humans so much you would suffer for them?”

Sans raised his gaze to stare the dragon in his yellow eyes. “Humans killed my friends. My only brother!” But he wasn’t the kind of guy to act maliciously against them. Sans understood that the actions of a few didn’t mean that was how the whole race felt. Beans’ kids were a great example of this; they had never looked at him with fear and seemed to genuinely like him. But he had no desire to go out of his way to protect humans, either. Beans had been the only human he thought worth protecting, back when she had first fallen as a child and refused to hurt anything. Though as it turned out, she had never been human at all. “I can’t do anything to the humans here. Beans would kill me.”

“What will you do then, skeleton?” Ohdaviing made a sound like a cat choking on a hairball; he was laughing. “Will you come clean and face the Soul Eater’s wrath? For I will tell her, if you do not. Or will you take my deal?”

~~~

Beans and Momon stood away from the crowds of people near the tall snow drifts, watching as a man from the college lit the wickerman with a torch.

“You’re a player, aren’t you?” Beans asked the dark warrior as the fire consumed the wickerman. The crowd cheered, raising their goblets to drink a toast.

“What makes you think that?”

“You mentioned data.” Beans huffed and stuffed her freezing hands into the folds of her cloak, wishing she was next to the warm fire. She had wanted to voice this earlier, in the basement, but perhaps it was better that her whole family didn’t hear this conversation. They wouldn’t understand. “No one knows what data is. At least the people of Skyrim have no idea, but I have a hard time believing that anything from Yggdrasil would know about it either.”

“Yes, I am,” Momon admitted. There was no point in hiding it if the elf had figured it out. Lying would only alienate her. Perhaps he could use this to gain her trust. “I knew you were a player as well. No one in this world knows what Yggdrasil is.”

“Is that why you’re here, in Solitude?” Beans reappraised Momon with her gaze. “To check out the competition? You know that if you hurt anyone here, I’ll kick your ass just like I did last time.”

“I’ll admit that I was curious about your city,” Momon shuffled on his feet, wondering how much he should say. What information would be dangerous, and what was not. Be’nseree reminded Ainz of himself, in that she would fiercely protect her NPCs. It was exactly what he would do for those in Nazarick. But, unlike him, she was very honest and didn’t seem like the type to try and hide things from people. Deciding to go out on a limb, trying this her way, he said, “There was an attack on my guild that I was looking into. I had to investigate you, since you’re the only other player I have met, but I don’t believe you are responsible anymore. Instead, I’d like to ask if we could help each other.”

“Why should I?” Beans turned the offer over in her mind. She hardly knew anything about this warrior. He had helped her back in Carne, and she had gotten a good feeling from him up until the fight between Sans and Nabe, but that didn’t prove anything. “I don’t even know what you look like, or anything else about you. But you seem to know way more about me.”

“That is true.” Momon nodded.  _ Might as well do this properly.  _ “Then let me start by telling you my real name. I am Ainz Ool Gown. I’m primarily a caster, not a warrior, and lead a guild with the same name as mine. Nabe's name is actually Naberal and she is one of many battle maids in my guild. As for my face, I’d rather we were alone before I remove my helmet.”

“That’s a good start,” Beans crossed her arms and stared Ainz down, “but I want to see your face. I hate it when people lie to me or try to cover things up. You want me to trust you? Show me what you look like.”

“I have already helped you with your trade route and your friend Sans, and you still don’t trust me?” Ainz looked at the elf’s stony glare and sighed. “All right, but if we are going to help each other, remember that no one else outside of my guild knows the face beneath this helmet.”

Ainz glanced at the crowd. All of their eyes seemed to be focused on the bonfire or on the people they were chatting to. As long as he was quick, no one should notice. Holding the dark helm in his hands, Ainz hesitated for a moment, then lifted the dark metal away from his skull so that Beans could get a good look at his face, and quickly plunked the helmet back on his head.

“You’re a skeleton!” Beans said, her black eyes wide with surprise. “I didn’t think there were any others besides Sans that were capable of complex speech. Are you a living dead like him or…?”

“I am undead.” Ainz fidgeted, feeling like he had just exposed something private. In a way, he had, but it had been necessary if he was to gain the elf’s trust. “Your friend is a special kind of skeleton. I’ve never even heard of anything like him.”

“Speaking of Sans, I’m going to tell him what you are.” Seeing Ainz’s helmet turn towards her, she quickly added, “I’m not going to tell anyone else! If you want to call yourself Momon, that’s your business, but I don’t keep secrets from him. He’s my best friend.”

“Can he keep it a secret?”

“I don’t see why not.” Beans shrugged and wondered where her friend was and why he was taking so long to get back. “Now that I know who you really are, why do you want my help?”

“There are many reasons. First,” Ainz held up a finger, “because I know you are a powerful individual, and I would rather not have us fight against each other. Not when there is someone else out there. Which brings me to my second reason. I believe there is another player, one with a World Item capable of mind control, in this new world. They have already attacked one of my Guardians. You are from a different game with different mechanics and spells. This raises a dozen more questions, but we can discuss theory later. I had asked you originally to make me an item to find out some of your abilities, but now that we are speaking frankly, I want to know if you have something that can combat the effect.” Ainz held his breath, or at least felt like he did. This was the moment of truth. If Beans acted strangely to this and gave him reason to believe she had attacked Shalltear, then he would have to act immediately.

“I have no idea what a World Item is.” Beans shook her head. Ainz released is imaginary breath. “And I can’t make anything to reproduce or counter the effects of mind control. As far as I’ve seen in Skyrim, the only time I came across it is when I fought Miraak. But the Shout he used doesn’t produce lasting effects. I got it myself, as a reward during the quest, but never really used it except to test it once. It just seems wrong to force others to bend to your will.”

“What do you mean, a shout?” Ainz felt tense. So Be’nseree was capable of mind control. Should he have the Eight-edged Assasins attack? They were crawling all over the city, invisible, observing the residents for signs of hostility to Nazarick.

“It’s like a spell. I used a different one to clear the skies just now. But like I said, I never really used Bend Will. I’m not even sure what the Words are anymore.”

“You mean you can’t cast it?”

Beans shook her head and Ainz relaxed. It was a good thing Beans was such an honest person. It was refreshing to have someone that so readily spoke their mind. “No matter, we can help each other, even if you can’t do anything about mind control. That armor if your basement is impressive, even if the other items aren’t, and I want you to make more for me.”

“That junk?” Beans laughed and waved the compliment away. “It was just an experiment to test armor ratings, and I like mine better. Not as heavy, you know? Besides, I don’t keep my best equipment down there. It’s a lot more well hidden.”

_ I knew it! _ Ainz did an imaginary fist pump and asked Beans for a demonstration of her crafting abilities. Be’nseree reached into the air, much like Ainz did when he took something from his inventory, and removed the black, serrated sword he had seen hanging so often on her hip. She offered the hilt to Ainz with a smile.

“That’s some of my better work.”

Taking the sword carefully in his hands, Ainz cast Appraise Magic Item. The results made him nearly drop the sword. Not only could the blade do massive amounts of base damage, but also had the chance to deal fire, frost, and shock damage while draining health from its victims. Items in Yggdrasil had only ever had one enchantment attached to them, and weapons could never do so much base damage even with improvement from data crystals. The only equipment that came close would have been from the world champion, Touch Me.

“I’m guessing from your silence that you like it?” Beans chuckled and took her sword back to store safely in her inventory. “That’s not all I can make. Armor, obviously, and jewelry. You said you’re a mage, right? If you tell me what kind of ring you’re wearing, I can try and make something better.”

“A ring would be nice.” Ainz was grateful for his undead body suppressing his emotions. If he had been made of flesh, he was sure his knees would be weak. No wonder it had been so hard capturing Sans, even with the combined efforts of Demiurge, Aura, and Mare. His equipment, aside from the mask, hadn't been anything too special, but this new game had insane possibilities. Ainz shuddered to think what would happen if he hadn’t erased Sans’ memory. He and the elf were forces of nature. The Great Tomb might have the numbers, but if the entire city of Solitude had equipment of that level, Nazarick would be done for. It worked in his favor that Beans seemed to keep her power to herself. “My other fingers are otherwise occupied, but my thumb is currently vacant, so that would be fine.”

“Your thumb?” Beans eyed Ainz’s metal gauntlets, imagining his boney hands covered in rings. Why had she never thought to wear more than one? That changed so many things. “A ring it is then.”

“I’d also like you to visit Nazarick.” Ainz said, once he had collected himself mentally. “I’m sure that, as a crafter and player, you can appreciate what my friends and I have built.”

“That sounds nice,” Beans looked out at the people dancing around the fire and her gaze softened. “but it’ll have to wait. I have to help the people here. If what you said about the village is true, I need to talk to Scouts and Elisif about our options. They’ll all starve if something isn’t done.”

“That’s where I can help you.” Ainz smiled, even though his face couldn’t move. “My guild can easily acquire the resources to feed your city. I could even help get that road your people are building finished. You can trade us equipment that you make.”

“That wouldn’t last forever. My materials would run out.” Beans shook her head. “There’s no way to replace them yet, and I haven’t had the time to really explore the world and look for things I can use. I can offer you some of my time, if that’s acceptable. You say you run a guild? Give me some quests to go on for you. Good ones. None of those grindy, radiant quests.”

Ainz laughed, a deep, booming noise that echoed across the courtyard and turned peoples’ heads. “I always hated those, too. Perhaps I can think of some things for you to do that would be interesting, for a woman of your talents. In the meantime, you can help me with a personal project.” Beans turned to look at him with a curious expression on her face and he explained, “Seeing your city here, what you’ve accomplished, it makes me want to try it out for myself. I would like to build a world where humans and monsters can coexist. There’s this lizardman village I’ve had my eye on. Actual lizardmen, not the Argonian race you know. I think would be a good place to start.”

Beans smiled widely. It squinted her eyes and showed off her straight, white teeth. Thrusting a hand out to Ainz, she said, “That’s something I can get behind. You’ve got a deal, Ainz Ool Gown.”

Ainz reached out his hand and they shook on it. While his hand was in hers, Ainz reminded himself,  _ She's just a means to an end. If it comes down to it, if I get the slightest feeling she would turn against me, I'll have to destroy her. _

The elf was practically skipping as she ran out of the courtyard, calling over her shoulder, “I’ll be right back! I’ve gotta tell Sans about this!”

Beans raced through the street towards the far side of her house, the snow crunching beneath her black boots. The thin, blue thread of Clairvoyance showed her the way towards Sans. It was a relief that the spell hadn't glitched out. She had half expected it to. Ainz had mentioned another player running amok in the world; perhaps they had been responsible for Sans' disappearance outside Carne. Right now, all was well. The spell easily guided her.

She couldn't wait to share her good news with her best friend. Beans spotted him next to Arvak's paddock, near the stone steps of the porch, talking to Ohdaviing. Dropping her spell, she waved merrily and shouted for his attention. "Sans! There you are, I've got something to tell you!"

Beans stopped. Sans kicked at the snow and wouldn't meet her eye. Ohdaviing was grinning with a mischievous look in his cat-like eyes. Something seemed wrong, but it was hard to place. Beans closed the distance between them. Arvak nickered a hello and she stroked the horse's skull. "I've got some great news, guys. Want to hear it?"

"I have news as well." Ohdaviing snickered. "About the Argonian-"

"Don't!" Sans held up a hand, stopping the dragon.

"Oh? You would rather tell her yourself?"

"Tell me what?" Beans asked, trying to catch Sans' eye again. He looked at the ground, then back at the barrels beneath the porch. A lump of fear formed in Beans' throat. Thinking of Carne, she said gravely, "Please don't tell me Scouts had been kidnapped."

"N-no, that's not-" Sans dropped off, watching in despair as Beans cast Clairvoyance. All the wind left Sans as he watched Beans slowly follow the spell towards the barrels with confusion on her face.

"Why is Scouts in a barrel?" She asked in a quiet voice, standing in front of Sans' hiding spot. Ohdaviing made the strange choking sound that was his laughter. Beans looked towards the others, expecting an explanation, but all of the words Sans thought he could say had died in his throat.

Beans reached out with her pale fingers and ripped the wooden panels away. The lid slipped from her grasp and into the snow as Beans' eyes widened in horror. She had seen dead bodies before, had killed so many things with her own hands, but none of that prepared her for this. His limbs had been broken and twisted to fit inside the wooden cask. The blood had frozen to Scouts' pebbly, green skin. But his face was the worst. His mouth was still open in surprise, his tongue coated with ice. His red eyes had frosted over, like glass, staring forever into oblivion. Beans backed away from the hideous sight and sat on the stone steps with her head in her hands, feeling sick.

"I caught the skeleton trying to dispose of it." Ohdaviing purred. "I think he was going to throw it into the bonfire."

"You… you did this?" Beans stared in disbelief at Sans. She didn't want to believe the dragons words, but Sans said nothing to defend himself and stood frozen in the snow, staring at his boots.

Ohdaviing said, "He even asked me to eat the body-"

"Shut up!" Beans shouted, her words echoing thunder, and slammed her fist into the stones of the porch, shattering the bricks. Startled, Ohdaviing raised his red wings and took flight, showering her with snow from the roof. She looked at Sans with fire in her eyes. "Did you really do it? Did you kill Scouts?"

Sans knew he was in trouble. He had seen that look before; back in Carne after he had fought Nabe. "Y-yes, but-"

" _ Why?"  _ Beans hissed.

"I didn't mean to!" Sans shouted at her, desperate for her to understand. "He attacked me and you! You were sleeping and I-"

"Were you ever going to tell me?" Beans growled, standing in the snow. She never really noticed before how tall she was, how short Sans was. Beans' fists shook as she glared at the skeleton before her. So many thoughts swirled like a snowstorm in her mind, and the confusion made her even angrier. "You said he was at the Palace, said he would come back! You even said he would show up at the festival! But you  _ lied _ to me Sans. How could you?"

"I didn't mean to," Sans said, his voice small. "I-I was scared that you…"

The look he gave Beans was like a knife to the chest. He was scared of her. Was she really something to be so afraid of? Beans' black eyes burned and her voice shook. "I would never hurt you. Ever. How could you think that? I care too much about you, you idiot!"

"Beans..." Sans reached out to touch her, but she pulled away.

"Were you really just going to hide this all away and never tell me?" Beans turned to the paddock to hide the tears on her pale cheeks. "You were really just going to keep lying to me forever?"

"It's not like that!" Sans grabbed at her arm, trying to get her to turn around, but she smacked his boney hand away. "Beans, can't we just talk about this?"

"NO!" Beans finally turned to face him, her cheeks wet with tears and her mouth twisted into a snarl. "I don't want to talk to you now. I don't want to even look at you! Just - just get away from me!" She shoved Sans into a bank of snow and stormed up the stone steps, slamming the door of the manor behind her.

Sans lay in the snow, watching the grey sky above him. The cold didn't even bother him, didn't even compare to the weight sitting on his soul. 


	9. Ch 9 - The Great Tomb of Nazarick

Ch 9 - The Great Tomb of Nazarick

The door of the manor slammed shut, the wood shaking on its iron hinges. Beans roared her frustration to the empty sitting room. A clay water pitcher fell under her gaze and she threw it, relishing the sharp noise of it shattering against the stone wall, watching the water fly all over the furniture.

She stared at the broken shards, at the water dripping from stones to the floor. Beans buried her face in her hands, pressing her palms into her eyes, fighting the tears that had come back. 

She was so angry that her hands shook even as they pressed against her burning eyes, bringing stars to the darkness behind her lids. It would be easy to fault anyone else for Scouts' death, to blame it on events outside of her control. But she would be lying to herself if she thought that. She was angry that her inaction and belief that it would all work out had caused something even worse to happen.

This was all her fault. 

When had it all started to go so wrong? Looking back, she could see her mistakes pile up like the snow from the storm. If she had dealt with the hatred between Sans and Scouts, maybe they wouldn't have fought each other. If she hadn't gotten drunk, maybe she could have stopped the fight before Scouts had died. If she had controlled her anger, maybe Sans wouldn't be afraid of her; maybe he wouldn't have felt the need to lie to her.

"Dammit!" Beans pulled at her hair, wanting the rage to go away so she could think. There were other emotions swirling beneath the surface of it all, but she couldn't make sense of them, and her confusion only added to the fire inside her. 

She knew she had to go back outside and talk to Sans, but if she didn't get a hold of herself and calm down she would just scare him away. Sans' terrified face swam in her mind's eye and she held onto it, forcing herself to remember the look in his eyes. It hurt to close her eyes and see his fear, but it also helped subdue the fire in her. If she didn't do something, if she didn't act, she would lose another person she cared about. 

Turning, she wrenched the door open again and stomped outside. The flakes of the bricks she had broken slid beneath her boots.

Sans was still lying in the snow where she had pushed him, staring up at the grey sky. Seeing her approach, Sans got to his feet, his expression downcast and bitter.

"Yeah, I get it." He said, his tone dark, "You don't want me here, right?" His gaze locked onto the distant mountains, Sans turned on the spot.

"That's not why I'm-" Beans started to say, but she blinked and Sans was gone. Beans stared at the imprint of boots in the snow where he had been just a moment before, slowly processing what had just happened. He had teleported away.

"Fine!" She shouted, her word thundering against the stone walls, and kicked snow over the prints. "I'm tired of saying sorry anyways! It's not like I care, you idiot!"

She did care, far more than she was willing to admit. Without Sans' presence, Beans felt her rage return like a roar in her soul. It made her want to run; to fight something and spill blood. Sensing a presence watching her, Beans turned on the spot, her hands crackling with lightning.

Durnehviir sat perched on the wall behind her; he must have walked along it from the College to find her. He stared at her, his emerald eyes unblinking. Beans snarled, “What? You looking for a fight? Come at me, then!”

The dragon continued to watch her and did not flinch as she lowered herself into a fighting stance. Durneviir opened his mouth, muttering, "Kaan drem ov." His words whispered through Beans, dousing the fire inside of her and filling her with peace. Beans fell to her knees, the magic in her hands sparking away harmlessly through the snow.

“I’m… I’m so sorry, Durnehviir.” Beans felt her eyes burn again with renewed shame as she realized Durneviir had used a calming Shout on her. “I don’t know what came over me. I’m not an angry person, really. I can’t believe I almost…”

The green dragon snaked his head out to nuzzle her. "I understand, Qahnaarin. It is not easy for Dovah to go against their true nature, particularly when the world tests us. What has upset you so?"

"Everything." Beans sniffed and hugged the dragon's massive, leaf colored snout. "I keep fucking up, Durnehviir, and now I've scared Sans away."

"You are dovahkin." Durnehviir said wisely, the deep bass of his voice humming through her. "Your soul is Dovah. We do not know many emotions, but wrath can consume us. It is part of our nature. You are strange enough with your gentle heart. Dovah are not usually born so good."

"But you and Ohdaviing are good."

"Hm, I would not compare us to you. Ohdaviing serves you, yes, but he served Alduin since the dawn of time and is still true to himself. There is no kindness in him." Durnehviir smelled the salt on the air and licked the warm trails of water from Beans’ face. “You are still a hatchling by our standards, Qahnaarin. If you desire change within yourself, there is plenty of time.”

“How?”

Durnehviir hummed as he thought about the question. “I have had a thousand years of imprisonment inside the Soul Cairn and your gift of freedom to teach me humility and gratitude. This has given me the will to change myself. What gives you the desire to change? It must be powerful if it is to overcome your very soul.”

Beans listened to the joyful clamor of the festival next door as she thought. “I want to protect those people. My family and friends.” she said as she climbed to her feet. “I never want to see that fear on Sans’ face again. I want to bring his family back, and to make it so that everyone here can live together happily!”

Durnehviir contemplated her with one emerald, cat-like eye. “That may not be enough, Qahnaarin. Admirable, yes, but the desire to be a leader might only feed your soul’s lust for power. Can you think of nothing else?”

“I don’t want to be a leader.” Beans shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself for warmth against the cold wind.  _ Although, if I had acted like a leader from the beginning instead of just going for what I wanted, maybe I wouldn’t be stuck in this mess.  _ “I just want to take care of those I love. I don’t want them to be afraid of me. How can I do that if I can’t control my own anger and end up frightening them anyways?”

“Hmm… Dovah do not understand the concept of love. Although, if that is what drove you to search for your friend with such single-minded determination, then perhaps it will help guide you. As for your wrath, there are many ways to bend its will. Give in, and let it run its course-”

“No! I don’t want to hurt anybody!”

“Then there are but two ways.” Durnehviir hummed. “If you had wings, I would suggest you fly until you exhaust yourself. Since you lack that, find another way to use the energy until it burns out. Or, if that is not possible, you can whisper the words of Kyne’s Peace. They will not work as well, since you are casting them on yourself, but they may help if you are unable to use any other option. There is also one other piece of advice I would give you, if you would have it.”

“What’s that?”

“Think.” The dragon exhaled sharply, showering Beans with sparks of fire. “You have the power of an ancient Dovah and more, but you have all the recklessness of a fledgling leaving the nest. I saw it firsthand when we flew to find your friend. Think on your actions, plan, and you will not have so many frustrations.”

As much as she hated to admit it, Durnehviir was right. Beans knew that being able to plan for battle and exploring the unknown was not enough anymore. If she had been better at dealing with people, at handling their problems, then Sans would never have been kidnapped or run away and Scouts would not have died. She shivered with fear, imagining a mistake she hadn’t made yet that could kill her family.

So what should she do now?

Her first instinct was to go after Sans. He had teleported out of the city, and could go very far in a short time with that ability, but Beans was sure she could find him if she cast Clairvoyance and rode on dragonback. However, if Sans really didn’t want to see her and kept running away, it could take days to catch him and she would ruin her standing with Momon. His deal to help Solitude with food supplies was the only lifeline left for the city. Beans groaned. Trying to decide between her best friend and her family wasn’t a painless, or easy, choice. Not to mention the other things that popped up in her mind that she needed to do, and really shouldn’t put off, such as talking to Elisif. 

“Durnehviir… would you, maybe, help me?” Beans asked timidly, her confidence shaken by recent events. The green dragon bowed his massive head, giving his consent. “I want to look for Sans, but my family, the city, needs me. Could you find him for me and, if I gift you my thoughts, could you give him a message for me?”

The dragon contemplated her with one large, emerald eye. “I will do this, for you.” 

“Thank you.” Beans bowed, her thoughts and memory swirling around her like wind before being accepted by Durneviir. With red cheeks, she added, “I um, included his scent for you. If that helps you find him. Could you try to watch over him after you talk to him, even if he doesn’t want to come back right away? I don’t want anything to happen to him. And be careful of cities and villages! I don’t want you hurt, either.”

Durnehviir nodded and spread his great wings. For a moment, the weak sun filtering through the different shades of green on his wing membranes gave off the illusion of a forest canopy. The winds from his takeoff slapped Beans with snow and ice. Beans pulled her cloak tighter and watched the dragon climb into the sky, roaring a farewell as he circled the city, and then fly west. Once she lost sight of Durnehviir in the clouds, she turned on her heel and made her way back towards the festival.

~~~

The mountains howled with wind so strong it grabbed at Sans’ black cloak, almost knocking him off his feet. Cursing, he pressed his body against the rocks and grabbed at the ice to keep from falling. He couldn’t stay here for long, he would have to move or the wind would tear him off the mountain. Looking down, his eye lights searched for a safer, more concealed spot.

Reaching into nothing with his magic, he teleported.

Sans reappeared on a rocky ledge covered in snow as deep as his knees. Sighing, Sans looked up at the walls of Solitude. They weren’t far, he could teleport right on top of Beans’ house if he wanted to, but he didn’t want to go back. He left because he couldn’t stand seeing her so angry at what he had done, because he couldn’t stand the tears in her eyes as she realized his betrayal.

He didn’t want to hear those words out of her mouth. That she hated him. Couldn’t forgive him. He had to leave before he could hear her say that she wanted him gone forever.

Sans watched the green dragon climb along the distant city walls, feeling numb. Where would he go now? He had no other friends, no family. The only person in this world who had understood and cared about him was as good as gone. He could never go back now, and that realization knocked him on his back into the snow drift.

The wind roared and threw snow on him. Sans wondered how long it would take for the mountain to bury him. Maybe if he was buried deep enough, he might eventually fall down a hole and see Pap again.

A dragon’s roar pierced through the snow covering Sans’ skull. Quickly, he brushed the frozen veil from his face and watched the green dragon climb into the sky. Cursing again, Sans fought the deep snow to get to his feet. He didn’t want to face a dragon again, not if it was anything like Ohdahviing.

“Shit!” Sans cursed as the dragon wheeled through the grey sky, heading straight for him. Setting his sights away from the city, he teleported. Again. And again.

He fled down the mountains, landing on top of sheets of ice that crumbled under his weight, on jagged craigs, and onto slopes of slippery slate that sent him careening off the edges of cliffs and forced him to teleport again. His breathing became heavy and sweat dotted his brow as he drained his magicka by teleporting so far and fast. Still, the dragon was behind him. It seemed to lose him every time he teleported, but somehow locked back on his trail in a short amount of time. Was it tracking his scent on the wind? He had to lose it. Sans didn’t want to fight the beast. If he did, he would have to kill it, and that would only make Beans hate him more.

Desperate, Sans looked for a place to hide, someplace without wind. With a jolt, he recognized that he was on the path he had ridden so long ago when he, Beans, and Scouts had first made for the village. His leather boots slipping on the loose rocks, he ran down the path towards the fork, turning away from the boulders only traversable on horseback in favor of the narrow cliff ledge.

The dragon roared overhead. Fighting panic, Sans looked over the cliff’s edge into a deep canyon. He could see a dark spot, a shadow, thousands of feet below. Thinking it might be an overhang, he squeezed at the last of his magicka to teleport.

Sans felt his boots land on solid ground and stared at the distant sky. He could see the dragon circling the spot on the cliff he had just been. It seemed no bigger than a hawk at this distance. Pressing himself against the stone wall, he watched the beast land; heard it drawing great breaths as it tried to smell for him. The beast snorted, unable to find him, and spread its green wings to take flight once more. Breathing a sigh of relief, Sans brought his gaze to the ground to look for the overhang. What he saw when he lowered his sight was enough to knock the breath out of him. That dark spot was no shadow.

It was blood. Dark brown, dried blood. It was splattered all over the ground and canyon walls, enough for a horse or something bigger. He could smell the iron still thick in the motionless air. The dragon would definitely not find him here, not with a stench so strong. Sans slowly walked towards the terrible scene, wondering if he had stumbled upon the nest of some giant predator. He didn’t have much magicka left. Certainly not enough to teleport very far, if he had to defend himself here. 

Sans crept forward, his knees bent, trying to be as quiet as possible. The white lights of his eyes darted around, searching for signs of movement or evidence of what creature could be lurking in this forgotten place. Near the center of the splatter were small pieces of flesh that had gotten stuck to the sharp rocks sticking out of the ground. He reached for it with a sinking feeling in his nonexistent guts.

The flesh had since dried, but Sans could make out long, black fur still stuck to it.

~~~

“Thank you for waiting, I’m sorry I took so long.”

Momon looked up from the wooden table he shared with Nabe. Be’nseree had finally found him at the Winking Skeever, many hours later than he would have liked, judging by the irritated drumming of his fingers. The bar around them was packed with festival goers that were looking to prolong their celebration, and the noise was starting to get on his nerves.

“You’re ready, then?” Ainz appraised the nodding high elf, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice. "We will be gone for a few days, at least."

Beans ran over her mental checklist one more time. She had spoken to Elisif (and argued with Tullius) about the trade deal with Momon, made his ring, packed her inventory with supplies, dealt with Scouts, and said goodbye to her family. There was nothing else she could think of to do. "Yes, I'm ready."

“What about your skeleton friend, Sans? Is he not coming with?”

“No,” Beans looked at the floor, her chest tight. “He… didn’t want to come.”

Momon was curious, but decided he didn’t want to press for details. He had been waiting long enough. “Let’s get going then.”

Beans followed the pair back out into the cold streets, rubbing her gloved hands together for warmth as she watched a pair of drunken men support each other as they sang into the night. The pair of guards stationed at the gates nodded to them as they opened the massive wooden doors out of the city.

“So, where are your horses?” Beans asked as they walked under the archway, looking for signs of their animals along the walls. The path beneath her feet was smooth; the road was short, but coming along nicely.

“I told you at the festival, we don’t have them.” Momon’s helm turned this way and that, taking note of every pair of eyes watching them from the top of the walls and archway. “We won’t need them, either. I’ll show you, once we get far enough away.”

“My Lo- sir, are you sure about this? I don’t mean to question your infinite wisdom, but can we really trust this lower life form?” Nabe asked in a hushed tone, looking over her shoulder at Beans. Beans felt slightly offended. She could hear Nabe, after all.

“Yes, Naberal.” Momon nodded and lead them further down the road and into the moonless night. “I’m sorry I didn’t explain everything as well as I should have, but if you wait until we are back in Nazarick, you can hear my full explanation when I tell the Guardians.”

“Would you like me to cast some light?” Beans asked as she stumbled on loose stones, following their voices in the inky black darkness. “I don’t know about you, but I can’t see anything.”

“You don’t have darkvision?” Momon stopped to look back at her. Beans, unable to see, ran into him. He caught her before she fell and gently guided her forward by the crook of her arm. “I’ll guide you, then. I don’t want us followed.”

“Is it because you’re an undead that you can see in the dark?” Beans tried to remember if draugr had that ability, then reminded herself that Momon was from a different game; one that had already given her trouble. She needed to know more about Yggdrasil.

“Yes. I tend to forget that others might not have this ability, so forgive me.”

_ So why all this secrecy? _ Beans wondered as she let herself be led further down the mountain path. After a long time of walking, with the only noises they made being the stones crunching beneath their boots, Momon stopped them once more.

“This should be far enough.” He said and asked Naberal to verify. The stern-looking woman cast Detect Life and, finding nothing in the area, gave him the all clear. Momon lifted his fingers to where his ear would be and said, “Open a Gate at my location.”

“Gate?” Beans wondered, then gasped. A large vortex was growing in the air before them, giving off soft, purple light. It reminded Beans of the magic she had used to summon Durnehviir. It swirled and pulsed like a silent, magical whirlpool. 

Momon ushered Nabe through the Gate, then held out his hand to Beans. “Are you coming?”

Beans nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Was this some kind of summoning spell? Fighting the small jolt of fear in her stomach, she took Momon’s hand. What if this Gate lead her to the Soul Cairn? How could Momon even accomplish such a thing? Reminding herself that he was from a different game, that he probably didn’t even know what the Soul Cairn was, Beans took Ainz’s hand.

The Gate itself felt like walking through a warm current of air. The other side was full of blue-white light, blinding Beans. She dropped Momon’s hand and covered her black eyes to let them adjust.

“This is my home, Nazarick.” Momon said as Beans opened her eyes and smiled at the new sight. 

It was like nothing she had ever seen before. The hall they had stepped into was massive, easily big enough to fit her entire house inside twice over. The tiled ceiling was supported by black marble pillars dozens of feet tall. Banners with different emblems woven of dark silk and gold thread hung between the pillars, proudly displayed. Beautifully carved statues dotted the polished floor along the stone walls, and a red velvet carpet ran the length of the room to a raised dais, upon which sat a golden throne beneath the largest banner of all.

“What do you think?” Momon asked as Beans looked around with wide eyes.

“It’s beautiful!” Beans circled on the spot, trying to take in every detail. “Seriously, this is amazing, Momon! Did you and your friends really build this?”

Momon let out a deep, booming laugh that echoed off the walls. “It pleases me that you are so impressed. And as I have said before, you may call me Ainz when I do not have to keep up the appearance of Momon.”

Beans turned to him to ask how he had built this place, but her words fell short. The Momon, Ainz, she knew was gone. His dark, heavy armor had disappeared. Instead, he wore trailing black robes made of silk with red and gold trim. Large plates made of bone sat on his shoulders, and he held a tall, intricately carved golden staff in his boney hand. A glowing, red orb hung just beneath his open rib cage where his belly would be.

“Something wrong?” Ainz asked, the red eye lights in his skull flashing as she openly stared at him.

“N-no, I’m just not used to seeing you like this.” Beans felt her face grow hot from embarrassment. He looked so regal and refined. Despite all of her planning, all her preparation before hand, she had not thought to dress up and was painfully aware of how out of place she seemed. Even though the archmage robes were clean, they still seemed scruffy when compared to such riches. Beans moved to brush imaginary dirt from her clothes, then stopped herself. Ainz might get the wrong idea if he saw her fidget so much.

"Would you like to change before I call the Guardians?" Ainz asked her, catching her self conscious movement. "A first impression is a lasting one, after all."

"Is that okay?" Beans shuffled her feet, wondering if she should wear her Daedric armor or one of the other sets she had packed. If she had brought her red dress, it would be different, but that outfit had yet to be washed clean of flour and wine. "I don't really have any fancy clothes like yours with me."

Ainz laughed, though it felt to Beans that he wasn't doing it to make fun of her. "That's fine. If you are self conscious, I'm sure we have something suitable for you to borrow in the meantime. It won't have any enchantments, though." He waved his arm, the many rings on his fingers flashing under the pale blue light, and a pretty blonde maid wearing a black dress with white lace stepped out of the shadows of a pillar to bow before him. His voice commanding, Ainz told the maid, "See to it that Be'nseree has something suitable to wear during her time in Nazarick and prepare a room for her. She'll be staying with us for awhile and I want her to be comfortable."

"Of course, my Lord." The maid bowed her head respectfully to her master to show that she understood and beckoned Be’nseree to follow. Ainz waited until the tall elf and blonde maid had disappeared through a set of doors before making his way to the golden throne.

He had to look the part of a ruler, after all.

Feeling settled and mentally prepared, Ainz had Naberal, who had changed back into her Pleiades uniform, open the large double doors at the end of the hall to let the Guardians approach. Albedo, Aura, Mare, and Shalltear knelt before the throne and bowed their heads in fealty, welcoming Ainz back to Nazarick with smiles on their faces. Ainz noted the absence of Demiurge and Cocytus. It couldn’t be helped. Cocytus was still dealing with the battle against the lizardmen, and Demiurge was still conducting business in the South.

“My Lord! We hadn’t expected you to grace us with your presence so quickly after your departure!” Albedo raised her head and stared at him with misty eyes, her wings fidgeting. “Or, could it be? You missed me so much you just couldn’t stay away?”

“Of course I missed all of you,” Ainz said. Albedo squealed with delight, her cheeks reddening. “But there is another reason for my return. I do not have much time to explain, I expect her back at any moment, so I want you all to listen carefully.”

The other Guardians raised their bowed heads, their full attention focused on Ainz. Albedo stiffened slightly, hearing the word ‘her’.

“I have made contact with a powerful individual, as you all know, named Be’nseree.”

“The one who you thought attacked Shalltear?” Aura gasped. Albedo glared at her and she hung her head, muttering an apology for interrupting. Shalltear flushed with embarrassment at the reminder of her failure and stared at the floor.

“Indeed, the same woman you met once before, Aura.” Ainz ignored the interruption in favor of making his point while the elf in question was out of the room. “However, I myself have cleared her name after investigating her city and home. Since she has not acted against us as of yet, I have taken initiative to extend the hand of friendship. I have made a mutual agreement with Be’nseree for the moment regarding our cooperation, but in the long term I want to have her power added to Nazarick. To do this, I have started by bringing her here today to meet all of you. While she is here, make sure you treat her kindly and try to get along, understand?”

“B-but, my Lord!” Mare clutched his staff nervously and looked over his shoulder at Naberal. “Didn’t her skeleton attack us?”

“Yes, but he has not come with her today.” Ainz nodded, acknowledging the concern. “Even so, he has had his punishment, though I erased his memory. Let me make it clear that I do not want any mention that Sans the skeleton ever set foot inside Nazarick, or that any of you know anything about him besides his name. To do so would jeopardize my plans for Be’nseree. Understand?”

“Yes, my Lord!” The Guardians chorused, bowing their heads.

“Good. Now, come stand by my side. It’s time I introduced you all to our guest.”

~~~

Beans swayed on the spot as the maid attending her put a foot on her back to tug the white corset around her waist tighter. Her mage robes, gloves, and boots lay on the floor, discarded for the moment, near a four poster bed piled high with a rainbow’s variety of dress options. Another maid with black hair darted in and out of a massive walk-in closet, trying to decide on the color of dress Beans was to wear during her stay.

“Really, I don’t need something like this.” Beans gasped as the blonde maid attempted to crush her ribs with the corset. “Seriously, I don’t want-”

“Lord Ainz wishes for you to be suitable,” The maid with the black hair eyed her shrewdly, then darted back inside the closet for a different color, discarding her latest choice, a pale pink dress with many ruffles, on the bed. “We are not dressed for comfort, or practicality. We wear what we wear because it pleases the Supreme Beings.”

“That’s fine for you, if you’re happy with it,” Beans felt her temper beginning to flare up as the blonde pulled at the strings at her back, pinching her pale skin. She had been compliant with the maids thus far because she didn’t want to offend anyone, but she could only be pushed so much. “But I like to breathe!” She waved the maid away and pulled at the corset. “Stop! Just, stop! I’ll wear whatever dress you pick, but I don’t want this stupid thing!”

The blonde maid scowled as she watched Beans tear the corset off herself and throw it to the floor. Now naked, except for her carefully torn, tied cloth bikini bottom, Beans had a strange image of herself as a barbarian flash through her head, and she smiled at it. The black-haired maid returned from the closet with another dress, this one white with dark red accents on the cuffs and skirt, and Beans snatched it out of her hands.

“This one is fine. I don’t really care about the color, I just don’t want to embarass myself.”

“Then you really  _ should _ care about the color.” The black-haired maid muttered darkly as she watched the tall elf pull the fabric over her head and struggle with the silk slip. The blonde sighed and stepped forward to help Beans before she could rip anything. “Now, as for your footwear…”

“My boots are fine!” Beans hurried and grabbed her rough, leather shoes from the pile of robes to pull them on before the maids could snatch them away. Likewise, she picked up her robes and stowed them away safely in her inventory. The maids looked at her old outfit like it was a crime against fashion, and she worried it would be burned if she let them have it. It had taken a lot of work to earn those robes.

“If you are quiet done, then,” The blonde said cooly, eyeing Beans as she pulled at the front of her dress, the many rings she hand enchanted earlier that day clinked gently as her fingers moved. The cut of the dress was a deep V shape. She felt far too exposed with half of her chest hanging out, and her emerald pendant was cold on her pale skin. “We shouldn’t keep Lord Ainz waiting.”

The black haired maid darted out of the room into the main hall, leaving Beans and the blonde to wait until she returned with permission for them to enter. Return she did, holding the door open wide to allow Beans through. Beans thought it was very strange that they would go through all these formalities. She already knew Ainz, what was the point?

The blonde maid rushed forward, announcing to the room, “Presenting herself before Lord Ainz, our Supreme One, is Be’nseree.”

Taking a quick moment to straighten the silver circlet on her head, Beans stepped back into the main hall, her dark eyes searching for Ainz. They found him at the end of the velvet carpet, sitting on a throne and holding his golden staff, surrounded by two beautiful women and a pair of elf children. Now she knew why the maids had gone through such formalities. Sitting up there are his raised dais and golden throne, the dark banner hanging behind him with his court staring down at her, Ainz really looked like an undead king. The effect was rather intimidating.

“Um, hello.” Beans nervously approached the throne, waving at the women surrounding Ainz. A woman in a white dress with black hair and wings glared at her as she spoke. “I’m-”

“You have not been given permission to speak.” The dark haired woman snapped, her eyes staring daggers at Beans. Ainz raised his hand at her, and she fell silent.

“It’s okay, Albedo.” Ainz said and let his hand fall. Seeing Beans’ shocked look, he continued, “Why don’t I start the introductions? This is Albedo, she leads the Guardians.”

Next he pointed out the elf girl Beans had met before in the forest, Aura. Then, the other elf child, who Ainz introduced as her brother, Mare. Seeing a boy in a skirt shocked Beans at first, but she remembered seeing cross dressers from her coding classes and decided it wasn’t so strange. Last was the woman in a plum colored dress with frilly white lace and white-blonde hair tied back in a bow, Shalltear. Ainz also mentioned that there were two more that were not currently present, Cocytus and Demiurge, but that he hoped to introduce them to her in person soon.

Ainz fell silent and watched Beans, the red lights in his eye sockets dancing. Realizing it was her turn, Beans said, “My name is Be’nseree. You can call me Beans, if you like.”

“As I was telling the others before you came in,” Ainz nodded respectfully at her introduction, “you and I have an agreement to help each other. We here at Nazarick will help your city, Solitude, in exchange for your services. I believe you also promised me an item, one that you made yourself?”

“Oh, yeah!” Beans dug into her inventory, removing a gold and sapphire ring. She climbed the stone steps of the dais and approached Ainz on his throne, glancing nervously at a stony faced Albedo, and dropped the ring into Ainz’s bony hand. “I made the ring some time ago, but I enchanted it earlier today. You said you were a mage, so I tried to make something that would suit your build.”

“What are the enchantments?” Ainz asked and held the ring up to the light to examine it. He could check it himself with a spell, but he wanted the Guardians to understand what he had discovered.

“This one has fortify magicka and magicka regeneration.” Beans smiled, proud of her work. She hadn’t taken the time to go whole hog, since that involved juggling potions and using her special crafting armor, but the enchantments were still impressive. “I wasn’t sure what school of magic you specialize in, but very mage can use extra magicka and faster regen time.”

The Guardians stared at Beans with blank faces, and Ainz felt his disappointment rise. Didn’t they understand how special it was to have two enchantments on one object? Especially enchantments like that! Extra magic through equipment was unheard of in Yggdrasil, and magic could only be regenerated after a long period of time or, if you wanted to skip the wait, through potions. Perhaps they would be more impressed once Ainz explained it to them, but for the moment, the only one who could share his feelings about the ring would be Pandora’s Actor.

“Truly impressive, Be’nseree.” Ainz said and switched the gift with the ring on his pinky finger, hoping that his actions would help the Guardians warm up to the elf a bit. Unbeknownst to him, Albedo eyed the exchange of rings with jealousy.

“You can call me Beans, Ainz.” Beans smiled. 

“How dare you!” Albedo roared, her fists clenched and her eyes bulging. Beans took a step back, startled by the sudden flood of rage that burst out from the beautiful woman. “He is LORD Ainz to you, you-!”

“Albedo!” Ainz shouted, quieting the fuming woman with just her name. Once silence been restored, he continued much more calmly, “It’s fine. I told Beans that she didn’t need such formalities with me.”

“But, my Lord!”

“End of discussion.” Ainz stared at her with his red eye lights, and Albedo hung her head in submission. “I consider her a friend, didn’t I say as much?”

Beans watched the exchange, impressed that Ainz wielded such authority that he could quell this fiery woman with a few words. She made a mental note to never cross Albedo and to tread lightly around her if Ainz wasn’t around. It wasn’t that she didn’t think she could win if it came down to a fight, but something about the woman with black wings told Beans that defeating her wouldn’t be as easy as punching a hole through her armor. Beans wished she hadn’t changed out of her robes into this stupid dress. Rather, she wished that she was wearing her usual armor. She had wanted to not appear frightening to her new allies, and that decision left her feeling vulnerable in this strange place.

She wished that she had Sans with her to watch her back.

“Well, now that that’s out of the way!” Ainz stood and clapped his hands together, his golden staff floating by his side. “Why don’t I show you around Nazarick a bit, Beans? Afterwards, we can discuss some of the finer points of our arrangement over dinner. What do you say?”

Beans nodded, knowing full well that it would be stupid to say no.

Ainz lead her out of the main hall and beyond, explaining Nazarick in general as he went with Beans at his one side, Albedo on the other. The other Guardians excused themselves, claiming they had duties to attend to. There wasn’t enough time to explore each floor in detail, but as Beans was shown bits and pieces of each of the ten floors, her respect for Ainz’s guild and the efforts to create the Great Tomb increased. She felt nervous about small questions she asked about how Ainz and his friends had built the place, but Ainz answered with such enthusiasm that she felt emboldened and found herself talking about code with him throughout her tour.

“And it’s all underground?” Beans asked as they reached the sixth floor. The entire area, as far as she could see, was covered in jungle. The ceiling didn’t look like a ceiling at all, but a replica of the night sky, and Beans whistled in admiration. “That’s some impressive coding.”

“Indeed.” Ainz stared up at the sky, feeling an unbridled joy that someone had finally come along that could truly appreciate what his friends built and all the love, sweat, and tears they had poured into their work. “This was Blue Planet’s work. He had always wanted to see and explore a world like this.”

Beans felt pain in her heart at those words. Sans had said something similar about Papyrus wanting to explore the surface world, and the fact that this underground guild full monsters had so many similarities to Undertale was not lost on her. There was a level of fire and lava that reminded her of Hotland, a giant underground lake that made her think of Waterfall, and one made of snow and ice like Snowdin. She wished once again that Sans was here to see this. Would he be happy to see a place that was so much like his home? Or would it just be a painful reminder of everyone he had lost?

“Is everything all right?” Ainz asked her as they stood at the gates of the first floor, looking out into the graveyard that marked the surface of Nazarick.

“I’m fine.” Beans smiled, hiding her thoughts behind a mask. “I guess I’m just a little tired.”

“That’s right, you need sleep, don’t you?” Ainz nodded thoughtfully. “Food, as well. My apologies. I don’t feel fatigue or hunger, and can forget these things.”

“You shouldn’t apologize, my Lord.” Albedo said cooly. “You’ve been more than gratious to Be’nseree.”

“Even so,” Ainz took the hands of Albedo and Beans in preparation to teleport. Albedo glared at the small contact between the elf and Ainz. “Let’s get you back to the tenth floor to rest. We can discuss the details of our alliance after you’ve slept.”

~~~

“My Lord, what is code?”

Ainz felt his inner self flinch at Albedo’s question. The two of them were in the throne room, alone; Be’nseree had already gone to bed. Ainz had just been happily replaying his tour in his mind.

“It’s… hard to explain.” Ainz mulled over how best to respond, his anxiety spiking. Albedo already seemed irritated by Be’nseree’s presence (actually, that was a huge understatement) and he didn’t want to say anything about her that might upset Albedo. The Guardians had been built after the Tomb, after all, and so had no knowledge of what code was and how his guildmates had used it. No one but Ainz knew that the elf woman was actually a player like himself and it didn’t seem wise to enlighten them. “Hm, it’s not easy to explain.”

“If that elf woman can understand it, so can I!” Albedo leaned over the arm of his throne, her eyes watery, desperate to prove that she was better. “Please my Lord, no matter how difficult you think it is, please, tell me!”

“Ah, well, it’s um,” Ainz stuttered, trying to think of some kind of parallel he could make so she would understand. “It’s like that ring, you see?”

“The ring?” Albedo glared at Be’nseree’s gift to Ainz, her eyes shining with malice.

“Yes.” Ainz explained quickly, sensing danger and not wanting Albedo to get upset. “You see, code is like magical manipulation. You use it to create things, but only certain people have that ability and it’s incredibly rare. Does that make sense?”

“Oh, I see.” Albedo leaned back, the gears in her head turning fast. “So that’s what you meant by ‘adding her power to Nazarick’. You just want her to make things for you.”

“Indeed.” Ainz breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that he had dodged a bullet. It didn’t matter that he also wanted Be’nseree to help him with some of his plans, but Albedo would definitely feel jealous if she knew he was going to someone else for advice. Instead, he also explained, “There is also the fact that she can’t pay me solely in items. Her materials are limited, after all. So, in exchange for our helping her city, she has agreed to trade her time.”

“Why should she get time with you?!” Albedo cried, her hands clapping over her mouth. “If anyone should get that, my Lord, it should be me! I love you more than life itself and-”

“Th-that’s not what I meant, Albedo!” Ainz waved his hands in front of himself, appalled and embarassed at the misunderstanding. “What I meant was I can use her to deal with things I think are too dangerous for those in Nazarick. Not that I think you can’t handle yourselves,” Ainz added quickly at the look on Albedo’s face, “I mean that if something happens where I can’t risk any of you getting hurt, I can send her instead. Your lives are far more precious to me.”   
  


“You think so?” Albedo flushed, her black wings twitching flirtatiously. Lord Ainz had called her precious, and that was as good as saying that he loved her. “So she’s a disposable pawn, then, and means nothing to you. I see. I’m sorry to have misjudged your intentions, my Lord.”

Ainz didn’t think it was a good idea to correct Albedo. He wouldn’t call Be’nseree disposable, her abilities were invaluable, but he would never choose her above Nazarick. “I’m glad you understand, Albedo. Now, will you at least  _ try _ to get along with her?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it took a while to get here, but here we are! The Great Tomb! I'm so excited for you all to reach this arch of the story. It's gonna be big.


	10. Ch 10 - Bars and Cafes

Ch 10 - Bars and Cafes

Be’nseree rolled beneath her feather comforter, unable to find sleep, and stared at the lanturn burning with a low flame on the wall. It wasn’t for lack of trying. Her belly was full of delicious food, her bed was more luxurious than anything before in her life, and she felt like she had taken the first step to finally solving the problems in Solitude for good. After the day she had, she should be exhausted. Meeting the people of Nazarick had not been easy. Even with her beast blood, she should be sleeping like the dead.

It just so happened that every time she closed her eyes, she saw the same grinning skeleton face.

Sitting up, Beans scanned the darkened room for any maids. They had been watching her at all times, in shifts, and it seemed they didn't want to leave her alone for a second. As the maid on watch, a pretty thing with flowing blonde hair, slipped quietly from the room, Beans knew her feigned attempts at sleep had finally given her a long awaited moment of solitude. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Beans cast Clairvoyance.

The thin, blue thread of light snaked out from her palm, across her white feather blanket, and out of her four poster bed towards the door. She knew if she followed it, eventually it would direct her out from underground. Seeing the guiding light wasn’t as comforting as Beans hoped it would be. On one hand, she knew that Sans hadn’t been captured again, since the spell wasn’t glitching. On the other hand, she had no idea what was happening to him and the fact that she had to even use the spell, to glean any information at all, made her heart heavy.

The door to her room opened and Beans dropped the spell. A new maid, this one with brown hair braided into a bun, slipped silently into the room. They made eye contact, but said nothing to each other. This must be the shift replacement. Beans knew from experience that the maid wasn't going to say anything unless she spoke first or tried to leave.

“I can’t sleep.” Beans sighed and climbed out of the bed, brushing at her white, silk nightgown. “I’m going to get a drink, okay?”

“Of course.” The maid bowed. “What would you like me to get you? We have sixteen kinds of juice, seven varieties of milk-”

“None of that, thank you.” Beans shook her head, dazed. The sheer amount of wealth in Nazarick took some getting used to, and she did not like being waited on hand and foot. Dinner was a similar affair, with the maids trying to offer her ten different kinds of bread during her four course meal. Then they had actually tried to dress her for bed, like she couldn’t do it herself! “I’d like to walk and get it on my own.”

“Miss Be’nseree,” the maid said with a shallow bow, “I insist-”

“Okay, how about a cup of mead?” Beans sighed, rubbing her temple with her pale fingers. There was no point in arguing with these maids. She had tried before, many times, and only succeeded in rousing her own temper. “Or some ale? I just want to unwind a bit and get out of this room.”

The maid stared at her, unblinking. After a long moment, she bowed low and said, “As you wish. There is a bar here, on the ninth floor, that Sous-chef runs, but he does not allow alcohol outside of the premises. Normally, guests are not permitted to wander, but Lord Ainz has given you special permission to use the ninth floor with our assistance.”

“Awesome. Thanks.” Beans groaned and rubbed her forehead. This was another annoying habit of the maids; they constantly felt they had to remind her of the ‘special permissions’ that Ainz had so graciously bestowed upon her. Beans took a deep breath to calm herself. She was grateful to Ainz for agreeing to help Solitude, and didn’t want to offend anyone in Nazarick, but she didn’t know how he could stand having people doting on him like this. It was driving her crazy, all this formality, and she hadn’t even been here a full day. Or had it been longer than that? It was hard to keep track of time underground.

“If you wish to use them later,” the maid explained as she guided Beans out of her room and through the long, twisting corridors, “there are many facilities the ninth floor offers. Beauty and nail salons, clothing and grocery stores, and a bath house, to name a few. All are free for those that live in Nazarick, but I cannot say if the same applies to you, Miss Be’nseree.”

“That’s fine, I have gold.” Beans looked at the many, dark hued doors they passed, trying to make sense of the writing on them. It looked like dragon text, at first glance, with its purposeful slash-like marks. On closer inspection Beans found she couldn’t read it, which was something she should have been able to do given her knowledge of the dragon’s language. Shaking her head, Beans caught up to the maid, reminding herself that Ainz and his guild, being from Yggdrasil, were unlikely to have anything written in Dovah. Still, the characters seemed familiar, like something Norah had seen in her old world. Was it maybe Japanese, or Chinese? That didn't make sense. Everyone here spoke English, as far as she heard.

“This is Sous-chef’s room.” The maid stopped in front of a dark purple door and held it open for her. Now that Beans was listening for it, she heard a foreign language lilting beneath the English she understood. Had this world always had that feature, or was it specific to Nazarick? Ainz had once said, back in the forest when he guided her to the village, that he was from the far East. Could he have been talking about Japan?

Beans thanked the maid and stepped inside. The lighting here was a pale, neon purple, similar to a black light, and smelled of incense. The bar itself wasn’t big, and the man behind it looked like a white, fleshy mushroom with red spots in bartender’s clothes. Beans wasn’t the only one there for a midnight drink. Recognizing the bow and frilly dress, Beans sat at the bar near Shalltear, making sure to leave a seat between them for personal space.

“What can I get you?” The bartender, Sous-chef, asked Beans politely.

“Another one!” Shalltear barked, her face pressed into the bar’s marble countertop. The space around her was clean, and Beans guessed that Sous-chef was a very tidy kind of monster.

“You’ve had quite enough, my dear.” Sous-chef sighed. “I was speaking to our guest.”

Shalltear rolled her head to the side and started at Beans, her red eyes slightly out of focus. Sous-chef tutted at her.

“Really now, for a Guardian to get drunk? How shameful. Even with your resistance to poison...” Lowering his voice to Beans, he added, “Please don’t think much of her. I’m surprised she can even get like this, but try not to take offence to anything she says.”

Beans chuckled bitterly, remembering her drunken night via Sanguine, and all the problems that had happened because of it. “Looking to drown your sorrows?” she asked the drunk girl, then ordered a bottle of ale for herself. “Take my advice, and don’t. Drinking it all away only makes more problems.”

“Oh yeah? What do you know?” Shalltear huffed and sat up to glare at Beans. “You think you know what failure is? As if! Come talk to me when you mess up your whole reason for existing.”

The maid at the door coughed, drawing attention to herself. “Lady Shalltear, I’ll remind you it would be unwise to embarrass Nazarick further and, by extension, Lord Ainz.” Sous-chef bobbed his mushroom-like head in approval.

“It’s okay,” Beans reached over and patted Shalltear on the arm. Shalltear glared at the contact, her lip pulling up into a sneer and revealing her pointed fangs. Beans quickly withdrew her hand from the vampire in favor of holding the bottle Sous-chef passed her. “Hey, I get it. I get drunk and make an ass of myself, too.”

“Pfft, like you know anything.” Shalltear banged her face back onto the countertop.

“Maybe I don’t know exactly what happened to you,” Beans sipped her ale thoughtfully, staring at the many rings now adorning her fingers, “and you don’t have to tell me. But trust me, people do stupid shit when they’re drunk. Heh, this one time, I stole a goat and-”

“Yeah, whatever! I don’t want to hear your dumb stories.” Shalltear interrupted, waving her hand dismissively. Beans felt herself bristle at Shalltear's tone and had to remind herself that the woman was drunk and obviously upset. “I bet you were never stupid enough to get attacked! Huh? Were you that stupid? You kind of look it, to me. Tell me I’m right.”

“Shalltear!” Sous-chef hissed, “Be quiet!”

“Well soooorryyyy!”

Beans stared at her ale, wondering if talking to and trying to console Shalltear had been a bad idea. What in the world could Shalltear be so angry about? It wasn't and if she wanted for anything in Nazarick. This place had more luxury than even the Blue Palace! 

Even so, Beans desperately wanted a friend in this strange place. Ainz was friendly enough, but he was always being whisked away for other business or surrounded by one of his court. It couldn't be helped, Beans thought with a sigh. He looked, and acted, like a proper king. Kings didn't have time to lounge about and talk. 

With a slight pang in her chest, Beans regretted not asking Jordis, or even Drax or Lex, to come with her. 

If she could just cheer up Shalltear, then maybe Beans could have someone a little more friendly to chat with during her stay. The problem was, she couldn't think of what could be bothering the vampire. As Beans racked her memory, searching for anything she had done to offend Shalltear (like she had obviously done when she meet Albedo) something clicked in her mind. Ainz had mentioned it only a short while ago, at the festival. “Shalltear, by any chance, were you the one attacked by that player? The one that got mind controlled?”

The room stopped. Sous-chef’s tentacles froze mid-wipe inside a glass. The maid gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth. Shalltear stared at Beans out of the side of her blood-red eye.

“How do you know about that?” Shalltear asked, her voice quiet.

“Ainz told me.” Beans said simply, taking another drink from her bottle. “I don’t know why you’re acting like it’s some big thing to drink yourself to death over, really. My friend-” Beans choked on her ale; her throat had gone tight just from trying to say his name. Once her cough had gone away, her face red with embarrassment, she continued, “Well, he got attacked, too.”

“Lord Ainz told you?” Shalltear sat up, watching the tall elf with narrowed eyes. Her failure wasn't a secret to those in the guild, as she was painfully reminded by the other Guardians, but it was also Nazarick's biggest embarrassment and would never be spoken of to outsiders. Had her Lord really trusted this elf enough to reveal her shame? “Why?”

“We have a common enemy with that player. Whoever they are, they attacked both of us. If Ainz wants to hunt them down, I'm more than happy to help." Beans gripped her bottle tightly, thinking about what she would do to whoever had kidnapped Sans, to anyone that would try and hurt her precious family. Rage simmered in her gut as she thought of every terrible thing she could imagine, from burning the player alive, to frying them with electricity, to slowly, ever so slowly, skewering them with her sword and watching the light leave their eyes. A crack startled her, and she lessened her grip on her ale. The glass bottle wept its contents onto the countertop. Sous-chef took the broken bottle away with his pale tentacles and wiped up the mess with a fluffy white towel.

“Oh yeah?” Shalltear leaned her elbow on the counter and studied Beans. “Did your friend get put under mind control, too?”

Beans felt her stomach drop to the floor and gritted her teeth. Her soul roared with anger as she imagined such a thing happening to Sans. It could have happened to him, when he had been taken. She had been lucky to find him at all. If his mind had been put under someone else’s control, who’s to say he wasn’t still that way? Realizing her anger was getting the better of her, Beans whispered the words of Kyne’s Peace to herself, aware that the room was watching her. With her soul calm once more, she asked, “Shalltear, how did you know you weren’t under their control anymore?”

“What kind of question is that?” Shalltear rolled her eyes and slumped back down on the counter. “I don’t remember anything. Didn’t Lord Ainz tell you?”

“Nothing at all?” Beans held her breath, then breathed a sigh of relief as Shalltear shook her head. Sans had memory loss, too, after Beans found him and woke him up. If he had been mind controlled, he had been released from it by the time she had gotten him back. “Well, it really sucks you can’t remember. Whoever that player is,” Beans snarled, her onyx eyes staring a hole into the bottles of liqour on the other side of the counter, “I’m going to eat their fucking soul when I find them.”

“Eat their…?” Shalltear stared at the angry elf, then burst out with raucous, high pitched laughter. “You're funny! Eat their soul, haha! How would you even…?”

“I’m serious!” Beans growled as Shalltear roared with good humor.

“Sure you will.” Shalltear giggled and rolled her eyes. “Lord Ainz, the most powerful and wise of the Supreme Beings, hasn’t found them yet, so what makes you think you can? Keep dreaming, little elf.”

“Miss Be’nseree?” The maid that had been waiting on Beans stepped between her and Shalltear, a hard look on her face. Another maid, the one with black hair that had picked out her dress, stood by the door, having slipped quietly into the bar while Beans had been distracted by conversation. “You have been summoned by Lord Ainz. We should leave immediately to prepare you for an audience.”

“No, not more dresses!” Beans groaned and held her head in her pale hands. She would go insane if she had to play the game of royal court any more. Gesturing to her nightgown, she asked, “It’s the middle of the night. If it’s just him and me, can I wear this?”

The maids’ faces paled and they gaped at her with open mouths, appalled at the thought that she would be so underdressed for a meeting with a Supreme Being. Shalltear slammed her hand on the marble countertop, cracking it, and startling Sous-chef enough that he dropped the glass he was cleaning. Her sharp nails gouged deep grooves into the once beautiful stone, her head twisting at an odd angle to glare at Beans.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?!” She growled, her red eyes glowing with malice. “Are you trying to seduce Lord Ainz by having an audience with him in your underwear? I’ll rip you to shreds before that ever happens!”

“What? No!” Beans felt heat rush to her face, even as she tensed against the bloodlust radiating from Shalltear. Green light enveloped Beans' fingertips as she readied the spell Dragonskin. She didn’t want to fight, not when she was practically defenseless, but she would if Shalltear came at her. “Why would you think that?”

“Get the hell out of my face!” Shalltear hissed, showing Beans every one of her pointed teeth, swiping at the air in front of Beans with her sharp nails. “Lord Ainz already has two wives, me and Albedo, and we’re never sharing him, especially with vermin like you! Got that? Never!”

Beans jumped out of her seat, knocking the stool to the floor, and fled the bar, the two maids trailing behind her as she sped down a random path. She wasn’t going back to her room, she wasn’t going to put on any more dresses. Beans wanted armor. Real armor, not the magical kind. These Guardians were all insane. First Albedo, then Shalltear. She had never done anything to them, and they wanted to rip her head off!

Feeling as though she had put sufficient distance between herself and Shalltear, Beans reached into her inventory and removed her horned Daedric helm.

“Miss Be’nseree!” The braided maid gasped and grabbed her arm before she could remove any more armor from the invisible pocket space. “Surely you don’t intend to fight Lady Shalltear!”

“No, I don’t.” Beans pulled her arm away, only to have the black haired maid latch on.

“Please, miss! Do not be offended! Lady Shalltear and Mistress Albedo, all of the Guardians, take their roles very seriously. If you approach our master wearing armor, they might think the worst and attack you!”

“I’m not wearing a fucking dress!” Beans shouted, her words thundering down the corridor, echoing off the narrow walls. Though the maids cowered, startled by the noise, they refused to let go of her arms. Beans felt their tremors as they shook from fear, but their eyes were hard with resignation. The flare of her anger died as Beans realized that the maids thought she would hurt them, maybe even kill them, and that they were ready to die to stop her. Reluctantly, Beans said, “Look, I’m sorry I yelled. I’m not going to attack you. You can let go of me now.”

The maids stared at her, unblinking, not believing anything she said. Doors around the corridor opened and various monsters poked their heads out to listen to the commotion. With so many eyes watching them (even though some of the monsters had no eyes at all) the maids finally, slowly, let Beans go.

“I won’t wear my armor.” Beans sighed and stowed the Daedric helm away in her inventory. The maids visibly relaxed. Rustling her hand around the invisible space, Beans pulled out a set of black and red leathers and held them close to her chest. The maids eyed her outfit warily, shooting glances at each other out of the corners of their eyes. “I’m not going to wear a dress, but I am going to wear something that makes me feel more comfortable. If you can show me someplace I can change, I’ll be quick so we can meet with Ainz.”

The maids whispered to each other behind their hands, glancing at Beans every now and then. Finally, the black haired maid sped off back the way they came and the one with the braid bowed shallowly to Beans. “If you’ll follow me, miss, there is a room not far from here that will give you some privacy.”

~~~

Ainz leaned his elbows into the handsome, mahogany desk before him, his fingers steepled in front of his face as he listened to a report from a black haired maid. The golden staff of Ainz Ool Gown floated gently in the air beside him. Demiurge and Albedo stood on either side of the desk, their bodies tense as they listened.

“Like thunder, you say?” Ainz leaned back in his chair, the wood creaking as he stared at the hundreds of shelves of books encircling the center of Nazarick’s library. This was not good. First Albedo had nearly lost her temper, then Shalltear, and now Be’nseree felt threatened enough that she felt it necessary to wear armor while inside Nazarick. If her guard continued to climb, it would threaten the relationship he was trying to build with her. Something would have to be done. “Albedo?”

“Yes, my Lord?” Albedo responded with a warm tone, though she still had ice in her eyes.

“I want you to go and find Shalltear.” Ainz thanked the maid and dismissed her, then turned in his chair to face the leader of the Guardians. “I need you to check on her. She obviously is still being far too hard on herself for her actions under the effects of the world item. Make sure she's okay, then I want you two to work together and brainstorm ideas on how to make Be'nseree feel more welcome in Nazarick.”

“B-but, Lord Ainz! Whatever for?” Albedo’s eyebrows disappeared into her long, dark bangs. "Of course I'll look in on Shalltear, though it's my humble opinion that you should punish her properly for her actions, but why should we do anything for the elf woman? You've already so graciously welcomed her onto our beloved home!"

Demiurge shifted and pushed his glasses up his nose. “Isn’t it obvious? Both of your actions go directly against Lord Ainz’s orders regarding the elf woman. I’ve only just come back and even I understand the damage both your outbursts have caused.”

Ainz held up a hand to silence Demiurge. The devil bowed his head in apology and Ainz said, “Demiurge has a point. I thought I had made it perfectly clear before I introduced you to Be’nseree that she has an important role in my plans. I appreciate that both you and Shalltear look out for me, and I'm not asking you to apologize to Be'nseree, but it seems I need to make my point clear. This woman is very powerful and commands dangerous creatures. She has skills, magic, and weapons that can give even me trouble. I want her to become a part of Nazarick, to add her power to ours; not fight against us. How can I do that if she feels threatened?”

Realizing the gravity of her error, that she had thrown a wrench in Lord Ainz's plans and made things more difficult for him, Albedo prostrated herself on the floor before Ainz and hung her head in shame. “Of course you are right, my Lord. Forgive my foolish oversight.”

“It’s alright, Albedo. Everyone makes mistakes.” Ainz lifted her head with a finger under her chin and smiled, even though his face couldn't move. “I know how kind you can be. All I ask is that you show this to others.”

“L-lord Ainz!” Albedo’s face flushed red and her heart pounded in her chest to have him so close, to touch her so gently. “I promise you, the love of my life, that I will right this wrong! ...but, Lord Ainz, may I ask you one thing?”

“What is it?” Ainz asked as he helped Albedo off the cold, stone floor and to her feet.

“If this Be’nseree woman ever does try to seduce you,” Albedo smiled with the radiance of the sun, her cold words completely contradictory to her appearance, “All I ask is that you let me, personally, punish her.”

“I can assure you, there is no romantic feeling there.” Ainz felt his nonexistent stomach flutter with nerves. Seeing the look in Albedo’s eyes, he conceded. “But yes, if Be’nseree ever tries to, ah, ‘seduce’ me, I will let you take care of it.”

“Thank you, my Lord!” Albedo bowed low once more, her wings flapping joyfully, then rushed from the library to find Shalltear. 

Ainz sighed and leaned back in his chair. He hoped he didn’t regret making this promise to Albedo. It was true, he was absolutely sure that Beans had no special feelings for him but, judging by the way she had acted with Sans, it was clear that she was an affectionate sort of person to those she cared about. Ainz recalled the night he had broken the sleep spell on the other skeleton; the way Beans showered affection on Ainz as a way of thanks, and her enthusiastic display with her 'best friend'. The memory made him shudder to think what would have happened if Albedo had been there to see it instead of Naberal. What if something similar happened later on? He was, after all, trying to cultivate a friendship with the elf. What could he do to prevent any misunderstandings?

Or, even worse, what if the skeleton ever showed up in Nazarick and Shalltear or Albedo witnessed Be'nseree's displays of affection towards Sans? The sexual advances from the two Guardians already made him uncomfortable. He didn't want them getting any new ideas.

“I’m happy that I can count on you to do things right, Demiurge.” Ainz rubbed at his temples, trying to ease the mental stress that was building between them.

“Of course you can, my Lord.” The devil smiled warmly. The compliment brought a proud shine to his gem-like eyes. “I will see to it personally that all of your plans are executed to perfection. In fact, I have already thought of a way to help prevent any future issues with Albedo and Shalltear.”

"Oh? You have?" Ainz leaned back in his chair, impressed that Demiurge could come up with a plan so quickly. He was curious to hear it, but the black haired maid had already returned to announce Be'nseree's arrival and Ainz decided he could wait on any explanation. Demiurge was the most brilliant mind in Nazarick, next to Albedo, and Ainz was sure that whatever plan he had in mind would be fine. It was clear that he understood how important it was to Ainz for Beans to feel welcome and any help with managing the two women Guardians would be greatly appreciated. "Very well, I'll trust you to take care of it, Demiurge." 

Demiurge bowed, a smirk on his lips as the maids brought their guest into the heart of the library. Knowing that he had the trust of Lord Ainz swelled his pride. He would not fail his master.

"Hey there, Ainz." Be'nseree waved in greeting as she silently stepped past the rows of books, using the motion and her wind chime voice to draw attention to herself. It took a moment for Ainz to even realize she was there. The tall elf's entire body was wrapped in black leather, the only color on her being the blood red accents on her elbows and knees, the shock of rose from her long, braided hair pulled over her shoulder, and her ivory face. Her outfit seemed to bend the light around her, and Ainz noticed that her frame melted into shadow if he was not looking directly at her.

_ What the hell is this? _ Ainz thought, his jaw dropping.  _ Why would you wear something so… kinky looking? _ Of course, his undead body couldn't feel arousal, but the vestiges of his human mind squirmed at the sight.  _ Are you trying to piss off Albedo and Shalltear? _ Rather than voice his concerns directly, Ainz cleared his throat and said, "That's a, um, an interesting choice of outfit, Be'nseree."

"It wasn't my first choice." Beans admitted with a sigh, folding her arms across her chest. "I'm not going to wear dresses anymore, but your maids didn't thinking was a good idea for me to wear my usual armor. This is one of my backup sets."

"What about your robes?" Ainz asked, hoping to change her mind before anyone else arrived to see this and got the wrong impression.

Beans shook her head, dismissing the idea of wearing robes. "Pure mage isn't my preferred build. I'm more comfortable in heavy armor, but light armor is fine too. Especially the sets that include pants." Her tone wasn't rude, but it was firm, and her stance was wide, like she was prepared to fight at any moment. Ainz knew he wouldn't be able to dissuade her fashion choice.

"Very well. Then let's get on with why I've summoned you here." Ainz directed her attention to Demiurge, who had been watching this whole exchange with an interested gleam in his gem-like eyes. "This is Demiurge, the Guardian of the seventh floor. He is also the one who will be coordinating the trade with your city, so I hope you will be able to work together."

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Be'nseree." The devil strode forward, a smile on his lips, his hand extended in greeting. "I've heard so many interesting things about you from Lord Ainz. I must admit I'm looking forward to getting to know you."

Ainz caught the slight hesitation from Beans, the flicker of her dark eyes as she examined Demiurge’s face, but she still reached out and shook Demiurge's hand. "I'm sorry to say I haven't heard much about anyone here, but it's nice to meet you too."

"My Lord," Demiurge turned on the spot, bowing slightly to Ainz as he released the elf's hand. "I know you had plans for this meeting, but I would like to ask for a small change." The devil waited for Ainz's nod of permission, then continued. "As you know, there is supposed to be yet another meeting with all of the other Guardians once Cocytus returns from his business with the lizardmen. Be'nseree and I have much to discuss regarding trade. May I take her elsewhere to work out these details, uninterrupted by any of the other Guardians?"

Ainz caught onto his meaning immediately and mentally shouted in victory.  _ Thank you, Demiurge! I knew I could count on you!  _ Ainz pretended to think on Demiurge's suggestion for a few seconds, to give the impression that he wasn't too eager to have him plans changed, then said, "I see no problems with this. But remember, Demiurge, we're running a tight schedule."

"Of course, my Lord." Demiurge bowed.

"Can I come with? To the meeting?" Beans asked, startling Ainz with her question. "If it's about the lizardmen, I want to help. You're serious about that world you're trying to build, aren't you?"

Her black eyes sparkled in the torchlight, giving Ainz the feeling that she was looking right through him. That look made him nervous. He had already given the orders for Cocytus to attack the lizardmen, long before he had come to her city's festival, but he hadn't made it clear yet to the Guardians that he wanted to use the village for an experiment with governing. "Regarding this meeting, I don't think I can allow you to attend just yet, Be'nseree." Ainz said slowly, trying to buy himself time as he thought frantically for an excuse. "You see, I have certain things I have to work out with Cocytus before I involve you. But rest assured, after I have everything prepared, I would like you to work closely with him regarding the lizardmen."

Demiurge glanced from his master, to the elf, and back again. He felt like he had already guessed some of what Lord Ainz wanted from Cocytus, but he was missing some pieces to his master's overall plan. Of course he could never match the brilliance of a Supreme Being, but he was curious to find out what exactly Lord Ainz was thinking.

"I guess that's fine then." Be'nseree huffed. Demiurge's tail twitched with irritation at her rudeness.

"Shall we, then?" Demiurge offered the tall elf his arm, to escort her from the library. She did not take it, but she did say a stiff farewell to Ainz and left the library. Demiurge bowed to his master, excusing himself, and stepped quickly to catch up with the elf.

He found her just outside the library in the hall with two maids trying to convince her once again to change her clothes.

"I'm not doing it!" Beans growled, determined not to let anyone change her mind. "I've already compromised, just give it a rest!"

"You heard her. Leave her be, you two." Demiurge shooed the maids away. They bowed, their arguments dead on their lips before the Guardian, and scurried off. Beans felt her shoulders relax as she watched their black dresses disappear around a corner.

"Thanks, Demiurge." Beans smiled at the devil, wondering just what kind of monster he would be. He nodded in appreciation and turned on his heel, indicating she should follow him with a single, beckoning finger. Beans jogged to his side, examining his pinstripe suit and spiked tail. "They've been driving me nuts ever since I got here."

"Have they not taken care of you?" Demiurge asked, his tone serious.

"Too much, if you ask me." Beans sighed and laced her hands behind her head as they walked. "Don't get me wrong, I appreciate what you all are trying to do, but I like taking care of myself. They're helpful when I need directions, but could you tell them I can get dressed on my own? They won't listen to me at all."

"You don't like being treated like a queen?" Demiurge found this surprising. From his understanding of the world outside Nazarick, all other creatures could easily be swayed if you appealed to their greed. If that failed, lust was always a fallback. "We are only trying to make you feel welcome, after all."

"And I really appreciate that." Beans said as Demiurge paused to examine her. "Really, I do!"

"What would you like from us, then?"

Beans shifted, uncomfortable beneath Demiurge's stare. He seemed nice enough, at first glance, but something about the way he asked his questions seemed off. Perhaps it was simply how stoic he was. Everyone else in Nazarick reacted so strongly to things (the exception being Ainz, who had the world's best poker face, since his skeletal face was unable to express emotion) and Beans found Demiurge's deliberate calm a bit unnerving after dealing with Shalltear. "I just want some space. It's hard enough for me to sleep without someone watching me from the corner of the room."

"I will make sure that is arranged." Demiurge smiled, and the small gesture slightly reassured Beans that he wasn't waiting to be offended by her. "Since we're on that kind of subject, where would you like us to discuss your city's needs? We could arrange things over a meal or, if you prefer something more quiet, there is a meeting room not far from here."

"I thought you already had a place in mind?" Beans asked, wondering why Demiurge had lead her so far if he hadn’t already decided on a destination.

"I was leading you away from the library." Demiurge smiled again, and Beans shivered. It was like he could read her thoughts. "Before you arrived, I was told about what happened between you, Albedo, and Shalltear. Though you are our guest, I can guess that their unpleasant reactions to you have made you uncomfortable. It seemed like a good idea to separate you before they saw you and became offended."

"Why? What did I even do?"

"There are many unspoken rules in Nazarick." Demiurge explained, pushing his round glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Naturally, everyone here is aware of them. But you, as an outsider, could not possibly understand them all without prior guidance. I wish to help you with this. I know that Lord Ainz asked me to help you with trade, but I also wish to act as your guide. You may ask me anything regarding Nazarick and, to the best of my ability, I will answer them while educating you so that you will better fit in, as Lord Ainz wishes for you to do."

"That would be really helpful." Beans stared down at the smiling devil, wondering why he was so different from the other Guardians, why he would help her, and asked as much.

"We all have our quirks, as our creators deemed fit to bestow upon us, but every single Guardian wishes to do their best for Lord Ainz." Demiurge held up a hand, to stop Beans as she opened her mouth for another question. "I'm sure you have a lot to ask, so why don't we decide on a place for our meeting before we get to involved in conversation? Once we finalize the details of trade, you can use whatever time is left, before I must go meet with Lord Ainz and the other Guardians, to ask me anything you like."

Beans groaned internally. She hated talking about trade. It was boring and, recalling the parts of conversation she hadn't zoned out from during her time in Carne, she barely understood it's fine points. Demiurge might seem far more patient than the other Guardians, but she was sure even he would be offended if she fell asleep during negotiations. "Does this place have coffee?"

"Of course." Demiurge beckoned her to follow him again and lead them through the twisting, maze-like corridors of the ninth floor to yet another door. This one was light purple with the same kind of foreign writing, though slightly different than what had marked the bar. Rather than opening the door for her, Demiurge stepped aside and watched her expectantly.

Beans pushed on the door, the metal cool to the touch, and opened the way to a small, brightly lit cafe area. The air inside smelled of roasted coffee beans and milk and flooded around her, drawing Beans inside. The walls were painted with the top half being cream in color, while the bottom was a warm cherry tone. There was a white, marble countertop, covered with different machines and glass containers of beans that made Be’nseree think she had stepped into a cafe from her old world. Two small, polished wooden tables with pairs of chairs sat in opposite corners of the room.

“This is amazing!” Beans closed her eyes and breathed deep, savoring the smell of a place she thought she’d never set foot in again.

“What would you like?” Demiurge asked as he stepped up to the counter. The barista, a goat-human hybrid with tan fur and curled black horns, a cherry colored apron, and brown eyes that stared off in different directions, stepped out of the back and waited for their orders. “I know you said you prefer to do things yourself, but I can assure you that Swizzle’s skills are unmatched in this area.”

“Uh…” Beans looked around the walls, but found nothing that resembled a menu. Even if she found one, it was unlikely she would be able to read it anyways. Daring to hope, that maybe this cafe offered more than just regular, black coffee, Beans asked, “Can I have a hot caramel latte with… extra whipped cream?”

Swizzle bleated confirmation and, after waiting to hear Demiurge’s order (“Just a black espresso, thank you.”) grabbed for ingredients hiding beneath the marble counter and got to work. Demiurge took a seat at one of the small tables and Beans followed his lead.

“Forgive my curiosity,” Demiurge leaned forward, starting at Beans over his steepled fingers while she watched the goat barista work, “but I have to ask, why the armor? Do you feel threatened by us?”

Beans froze at the question, then slowly turned to look at the devil in his jeweled eyes. “And if I did?”

“Then I would say you’re smart, to be on guard. Only a fool shows vulnerability in a foreign environment.” Demiurge smirked at Beans’ wide eyes. “None of us will harm you, of course, unless you give us reason to.”

“Shalltear and Albedo don’t seem to think that way.” Beans shifted in her chair, backing away just slightly from Demiurge. “I don’t even know what I did to them. Ainz only just introduced us and-”

“You really should refer to him as Lord Ainz.” Demiurge said cooly as Swizzle brought their steaming coffees to the table in porcelain teacups. “It’s incredible disrespectful to speak of a Supreme Being without an honorary title. I would not blame any of the Guardians in the slightest for defending our Lord’s honor.”

“Supreme Being, huh?” Beans swiped some of the whipped cream off her steaming latte and ate it, sighing despite herself. Sucking on her finger thoughtfully, she asked, “What does that even mean?”

“They are the ultimate power of the world.” Demiurge narrowed his eyes at Beans and, catching his glance, she took her finger out of her mouth. “More powerful than any human god or deity. Supreme Beings stand above them all.”

_ He must mean players. _ Beans thought, remembering Ainz telling her that he and his friends created Nazarick. That must also have included the NPCs in them as well.  _ I suppose, to an NPC, someone who can use and manipulate code would be like a god to them. _

What would the denizens of Nazarick do, then, if they found out she was a player like Ainz?  _ Probably attack me for false claims, I suspect. Even if they are true. But Ainz isn’t all powerful. I’ve fought him before and I kicked his ass too. Though, he says he is actually a mage. Does that mean he’s stronger as one? Skyrim lets players level indefinitely and, eventually, one could master every class if they put in enough time. Does Yggdrasil have the same system? Or maybe he’s like me and has levels in multiple places, but his preferred class is mage? Either way, it would be interesting to see who would win if we fought again. _

“Alright, to Lord Ainz, then.” Beans held up her cup to Demiurge, like she was toasting the name. Even if she felt she could still best Ainz in a fight, he had already bested her in so many other areas, and she could respect him for that. Demiurge smiled and clinked his small cup to hers and they drank. Beans sipped the perfectly foamed milk, the slightly salty caramel, and bitter espresso. She moaned in delight before drinking the rest of the latte as fast as she could. Demiurge eyed her over his cup, his eyebrow raised.

“Swizzle, can I have another one?” Beans smiled and banged her empty cup on the table, her eyes bright and the top of her lip covered in whipped cream. “That’s the best latte I’ve ever had in my life!”

Swizzle bleated appreciatively from behind the counter, a lopsided, buck-toothed smile on his goat-like face, and set to work. Demiurge pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose and said, “Now then, we don’t have time to waste. Your city needs supplies, yes? Lord Ainz mentioned to me that, from what he witnessed in Carne village, you don’t like these kinds of meetings, but you can trust me to work out the details for you. Why don’t you start by telling me everything about it that you can? The more information I have, the better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowee! Over 1k views! Thank you all so much for reading this, I never thought I'd get this far! I really want to do something for all you readers, for giving me this feeling of accomplishment, and I'd like you to chose! (Though, if there's enough demand, I wouldn't say no to doing multiples of these...)
> 
> First option, a one-shot! You guys choose the scenario! Either post it in the comments or message me directly with your ideas.
> 
> Second option, a Q and A! I'm not much of an artist, so I'd have to write this out for you all. Any characters are game for your inquires! Leave them in the comments or message me. I would like to give credit to anyone asking things, so if you'd rather remain anonymous, please let me know!
> 
> Third option, let me know what you'd like to see! This story... you guys all give me the determination to keep writing it. So if there's something that I'm missing that you guys want, let me know!
> 
> Of course, this milestone isn't limited to just one option, like I said. If there's enough people behind it, I'm happy to do more than a few of these. These options will be open continuously, save for the Q n A. If that's the option that most people are behind, I'm going to ask that you get your questions to me by Feb 15, 2020 so that I have time to write out some good answers/character reactions for you guys before I make more chapters. (I will be updating until then, but once the deadline is past, my next update will be the option you guys wanted most.)
> 
> Again, Thank you all so much for 1k views! You're all beautiful people! <3


	11. Ch 11 - Exposed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovelies! I know this is earlier than I promised, so I hope you all don't mind. I just couldn't wait to get all this out to you! So enjoy this double posting of the QnA and Ch 11. If there are any questions you all still have, I'll try to answer them the best I can in the comments.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading! <3

Huzzah! QnA time! I’m so glad for all the views you guys have given me.

Thank you!

So, as thanks, here are some answers to the questions you have asked. I hope that they’re enlightening. (And I apologize ahead of time if I get long-winded.)

Kamari333 \-  Sans seems to have adjusted to his modded role rather seamlessly. Perhaps it’s just my headcanons acting up but I would have thought that he would be grumpy at a player that made him, a pacifist, fight and kill. Then again, he’s seemingly had time to adjust and seems to have a fondness for the player, so history may be a factor. I am also surprised he uses proper capitalization. Is that a stylistic choice on your part, habit, or a marker of his time spent in this new game? Like picking up an accent?

OolongTeacup \- He definitely was a pacifist in the Underground. But, even in his home game, it’s shown that certain things can push him into aggression. Despite his nature, he's aware that there are foes that won’t accept mercy as an option. (Such as with the genocide route…) Unlike the Underground, Skyrim doesn't have branching path options. It has always been a kill or be killed world. Spells like Calm and Harmony only last for a short time, so while a pacifist style play can be done to a point, it's impossible to maintain and survive. As for the capitalization… It’s kind of all three, but I like to think of it as an accent. He had no spoken lines in Skyrim, so he listened to everyone else (particularly, Beans) for a very long time. It’s hard to imagine spending years of your life in a different world and  _ not _ picking some things up.

Ho \- Is Beans and Suzuki of the same time line? Like Ainz was from the 22nd century.. And can Beans beat Shalltear, one of the strongest Guardians, to a pulp?

OolongTeacup  \- Yes, Beans (aka Norah) and Suzuki are from the same timeline. They aren’t from the same parts of the world, but that’s what I like about the internet. It brings people together from faraway places. Norah just was into some really,  _ really _ retro videogames. But she was there for the final day of Yggdrasil… she tried to steal its game data to use as a DLC for Skyrim. 

As for a fight against Shalltear… well, it's not really an easy answer I can give while being spoiler free. Ainz's victory against Shalltear has already proven that sheer might isn't everything to winning. That said, there are a lot of variables that I keep in mind when I plan out fights between characters. Consider this: Shalltear is very powerful; with magic, skills, and weapons that Beans has never faced before. She’d give Beans a very good fight. A lot of Beans' power isn't her high level; it's knowing her own moveset and capabilities so well that she can optimise skills/spells to benefit her the most in battle. Then, when faced with a foe, she can form a strategy to defeat them. This turns into a question of whether or not Beans can adapt to a new foe quickly enough. However, keep in mind that Beans is not like Ainz; she doesn’t have emotional suppression. She is very susceptible to her own mental state, and if she is upset or angry she won't be able to stay collected enough to adapt. There is an upcoming fight that might give you a better idea of what I'm trying to say here.

Kathador \- How powerful is Beans anyway? I mean 100 is the limit in Yggdrasil but in Skyrim there is no limit… though the power level is not the same either.

One_Stupid_Cat \- How high is Beans’ level, I mean as in how much time she spent in mastering different classes and stuff. And maybe if she will ever explain her real reason for marrying Scouts to Sans, cause I’d really love to see her sort out her relationship with him…

OolongTeacup \- Oof! Two questions about the same thing! Well, I’ll give you the best, spoiler free answer that I can, lovelies. Hm… Well, I can start by saying that Skyrim was Norah’s (Beans) favorite game, so she’s poured  _ thousands _ of hours into it and into one character. She knows it well enough to exploit its glitches, but hasn’t used them in building her character. She has played so many different styles to find the one that she liked most that she is a jack of all trades. Power levels in Yggdrasil compared to Skyrim are definitely different, but Norah has always played on Hard Mode. She even installed mods to raise the levels of NPCs and enemies to make things more difficult for her fights. (Although I'm certain she would like an easy mode when it comes to anything thats  _ not _ combat related.) Beans has definitely mastered all the classes, if only to say that she got every level to legendary. If you want to know her exact level, perhaps Sans will tell you later... After all, he’s built to level with her. If you want more of a hint than that… I'll tell you that Durnehviir and Odahviing are level 95 and Sans could take them down easily if he really wanted. He's ridiculously powerful (he held off three of Nazarick's Guardians on his own, remember) and his Karma skill... nevermind. I'm just glad that he's not as reckless as Beans and is aware that he's a glass cannon. The tables could quickly turn if he didn't have Beans there to tank for him, so he never gets a lot of chances to show off his might. That'll change… *coughs*

As for Beans and Sans and their relationship… I’ll just say that at some point, everything comes out into the open. Doesn’t matter who the character is.

_ ...Everything. _

_~~~~~~~~~~_

Ch 11 - Exposed

“I do not like to be kept waiting, Dragonborn.”

Jarl Elisif sat stiffly on her wooden throne, her lips thin between twin tails of braided brown hair. The high elf before her, Be’nseree, shook the snow from her fur-lined, charcoal colored mage robes and bowed her head in apology. To Elisif’s right, Falk shifted uncomfortably at the hard edge in his Lady’s tone while, to her left, sitting in a chair, wearing his shined steel armor and eating an apple, General Tullius smirked.

“Your husband returned from his trade route yesterday, did he not?” Elisif continued in a raised voice, cutting Beans off as she opened her mouth to speak. “I thought I had made it absolutely clear to him that I am to be kept informed of everything that happens with this route. All of our lives depend on it. Do you think this is a game? That our  _ lives _ are a game?”

“Well, a lot’s happened.” Beans shifted uncomfortably. “I honestly thought I’d find you at the festival today and-”

“No, I’ve been waiting here. I happen to have my priorities in order.” Elisif said with an icy edge to her words, glaring at the elf. “Where is Scouts-Many-Marshes? He sent word with a guard that he would arrive last night to give his report. Why did he not show?”

“He…” Beans stared at the space above Elisif’s head, her eyes glazed over, seemingly at a loss for words. Then she said, slowly, “He… left the city. We broke up. Er, divorced. That’s why he didn’t come.”

Elisif raised her eyebrow, her hard gaze softening only slightly, and leaned back in her throne, motioning with a flick of her wrist for Beans to continue.

“See, the trade route… Well, the village doesn’t have any more supplies to trade us.”

“What?!” Elisif yelped and leaned forward in her throne, her brown eyes hard with concern. Falk and Tullius also watched Beans with furrowed brows. Falk absentmindedly picked at the embroidery on his cuffs, betraying his nerves. Tullius leaned forward in his chair, a shadow of suspicion playing across the angry creases in his face.

“The village, you see, is recovering from war. They just don’t have any more supplies; they’ve already helped all they can.” Beans closed her eyes. She took a deep breath, straightened her back, and held her head high before continuing. “Scouts and I argued about what to do and he left the city. But I’ve-”

“Did he put you in your place, for once?” Tullius growled, biting into his apple with a loud crunch as he watched Beans stare determinedly at Elisif and fidget with her gloves.

“But I’ve fixed the problem already.” Beans continued, ignoring him and focusing her black eyes on Elisif and Falk. “There’s this guy, Momon. He’s an adventurer like me. I’ve worked out a deal with him to supply the city completely with food and get the labor to finish the road.”

“Don't ignore me!” Tullius barked, glaring at the tall elf and starting to rise from his seat. Elisif held out a slender hand, stopping him, and Tullius begrudgingly sat back down.

Beans watched this happen, but chose to continue ignoring him. Instead she offered to Elisif, “On top of that, Ohdahviing came back. I can fill in the map I started for you with everything to the West. They won’t have names, of course, but we’ll know the location and size of settlements.”

Tullius glared at her. His grip tightened on his apple, bruising its flesh with his nails.

Elisif stood from her throne to slowly approach Beans. The short, human woman looked up into the tall elf’s dark eyes, studying them for a long while. Slowly, Elisif’s scowl softened into a frown. 

“I see. You have been busy, haven't you?” Elisif said and, in a much quieter tone, meant for Beans alone, “I'll ask you this, not as your jarl, but as your friend. What happened with your husband? Did the argument really have to do with the village, or something to do with why your usual friend isn’t with you?”

Beans flinched away, her eyes filling with tears as she bit her lip and looked at the floor.

Elisif put a gentle hand on her arm and whispered, “I see… Scouts-Many-Marshes, during his visits here, always made it apparent that he did not care for the creatures you claim for your family. Is that why he left?”

Beans, seemingly unable to speak past the lump in her throat, nodded. Elisif waited patiently until Beans, her eyes bleary and her cheeks pink, could croak out, “It’s.. it’s all my fault, Elisif…”

Elisif silenced the elf with a small squeeze to her arm, whispering, “Say no more, my friend. You have a kind heart, to open it up to monsters, but I've yet to see your judgement be wrong. I’m sorry Scouts forced you to choose between him and those you care for so much.” To the rest of the room, she said, “That does explain why it took you so long. I’m sorry to hear you and your husband are no longer together. Things like this are always difficult to get through, but you must care deeply about the city to work so hard for her during your heartbreak.”

“Hang on!” Tullius jumped to his feet, wiping apple juice from his lips with the back of his hand. “Elisif, you can’t possibly accept this! The Argonian never mentioned anything about dwindling supplies in his last report and, if this is true, why wouldn’t he tell us himself?”

“I doubt the village would have revealed their situation until they had to. If you recall, General,” Falk spoke up, drawing Tullius’ attention to himself while Elisif consoled the elf. “the last time Scouts-Many-Marshes was here he reported that the villagers were desperate for tools and building materials. He was optimistic about the stability of the route.”

“Of course he was! This whole thing was his idea!” Tullius rounded on Beans, determined to have his say. “It’s far too convenient to have already found another supply route for the city in a matter of days. Who is this Momon guy, anyway? I’ve never heard of him!”

“You wouldn’t have, would you?” Beans said darkly, the winds taken out of her chime-like voice as she was finally forced to confront the General. “I met Momon in the village during our first visit there. He’s an adventurer, like me.”

“And how would a mere adventurer have the means to supply a city?”

Beans pressed a finger to her pink cheek as she feigned concentration. “I don’t know, Tullius. How was I able to fund the trade route in the first place?”

“Perhaps,” Falk stepped in, spotting the sparks of anger in the General’s eyes, “The reason Scouts-Many-Marshes isn’t here is  _ because _ the route was his idea, and it failed. Then his wife comes up with a solution that works. I’ve seen men be ashamed for lesser reasons.” Quickly, he bowed his head to Beans, “No offence meant, Dra-er, Beans.”

“This is true, General.” Elisif bobbed her head in agreement with Falk, sending a small smile towards Beans. Elisif beckoned Beans to sit at a small table with her. With a whispered order, she sent Falk to retrieve the partial map of the new world for the elf to work on. “Solitude is in a desperate situation. We’ve had supplements so far, but our resources are dwindling. If Be’nseree has found a way to solve our problems with help from this Momon, then I say we take it.”

“Oh? And how can Momon solve our problems?” Tullius threw up his hands and stomped around the room. “Does he have a camp of wagons nearby, just waiting to be sent up the mountain?”

“I don’t know how far away his home is,” Beans furrowed her brow, her hand shaking slightly as she dipped a quill in ink. Falk rolled out the map on the table before her, weighing its curling edges down with smooth river stones. Beans stared at the parchment, her next words forgotten, and traced a small circle in the hills that had been drawn there by another. Her hand shook, but Beans tightened her grip on the eagle feather quill and began to draw in quick, agitated strokes.

“Oh yes,  _ that _ sounds reassuring!” Tullius came over to the table, to glare at the elf’s back as she bent over the map to work. “And you said he can finish the road? Let me guess, he has an army. And you’re just going to open our gates and let them march right in!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Tullius!” Elisif waved the accusation away, but shifted nervously in her seat. Lowering her voice, she asked Beans, “He… doesn’t have an army, does he?”

“Momon has creatures at his command, but he’s not going to invade.” Beans sniffed, her voice creaky as she drew small squares and towers to mark a large city in the Northwest, her other hand resting over the circle in the hills. “He said he would give us something like a few dozen skeletons. They’re the regular kind, the lowest level undead, and there’s nothing to fear from them.”

“Undead!?” Tullius shouted in their ears, for he had bent close to the women to overhear their whispered words. Elisif jumped in fright and Beans broke her quill. “By Stendarr's mercy, that’s even worse than an army!”

“Now, General, I’m sure there’s a good reason.” Falk tried to calm the raving man with a hand on his armored shoulder, but Tullius smacked it away.

“Reason? How can you all not  _ see _ reason!” Tulllius slammed his hand on the table, smearing the wet ink across the thick paper. “This woman is a corrupting influence in our city! First that skeleton of hers, then dragons, and now those Dremora monsters that dogged her husband’s footsteps. Now she wants to flood the city with undead and-”

“Stop being an ass.” Beans growled, looking up from the ruined map, her mouth set in a snarl and her eyes glittering with tears that had yet to fall. “You know damn well that there’s nothing wrong with Sans or Durnehviir or anyone else in my family. Momon said the best people to finish the road are undead skeletons, and I agree with him! They don’t need to rest, or eat, or sleep. He’s even willing to let us borrow them after the road’s finished to help till fields!”

“Undead aren’t people. They don’t till fields or build roads.” General Tullius sneered at the elf. “I can see why your husband left you. He always said your heart was twisted, to love these monsters so. Turns out he couldn’t fix you.”

“General Tullius!” Elisif shouted, standing between him and Beans as the elf jumped to her feet, her fists clenched and shaking, her black eyes sparking with anger. “That is quite enough!” Turning to Be’nseree, Elisif guided the elf towards the stairs and whispered quickly, “I think you should go. Don’t listen to Tullius. You’ve always been a big help to the city. Do what you think is best, and I’ll trust your judgement. Just come to me before you let the undead inside the walls, understand?”

“Thanks, Elisif. I’ll be back soon.” Beans wiped the water from her eyes and left the hall, her charcoal cloak billowing behind her.

As soon as Elisif was sure that Beans was out of earshot, she rounded on Tullius. "You go too far, General. To say such things when that poor woman is so obviously heartbroken! How can you be so cruel?"

"How can you be so blind?" Tullius retorted, waving his half eaten apple in the air as he spoke. "Don't you find any of this suspicious? Malevolent, even? Scouts has already shown his competence to us. Why would he just leave? There's more going on here than the elf is telling us. She’s lying to you, playing on your emotions-"

"I'm not having this conversation again, Tullius." Elisif sighed, squeezing the bridge of her nose between her fingers. "Beans  _ helps _ this city. She is a friend. I don't want to hear another one of your made up plots that she's trying to take over."

"Oh no, not take over. Now she's trying to kill us!" Tullius took a furious bite of his apple, saying through his mouthful of fruit, "That Daedra-worshipping necromancer is about to lead an army of undead into the city, and you're just going to stand by and let it happen? Have you forgotten what happens when unnatural monsters come across humans?"

"The ways of the dragonborn are strange," Falk rubbed the stubble on his chin thoughtfully, "but her creatures have caused us no harm. In fact, they've proven themselves to be more than helpful. The faithful dog was once a vicious wolf before it was tamed."

"These aren’t damned dogs, Falk, they're fucking monsters!" Tullius shouted, throwing his apple to the floor, splattering its contents across the clean stone. “By the Eight Divines, are you turning into a Daedra-worshipper as well?”

"All I'm saying is that the evidence is in favor of Be'nseree." Falk made a motion that suggested said evidence was before him, for Tullius to peruse like a hawker's wares. "You feared the dragons-"

"We  _ all _ feared the dragons." Tullius hissed, his eyes narrowed in a glare.

"Yet now they bring food and intel to the city instead of fire and death." Falk crossed his arms, matching Tullius' glare. "Even Scouts himself reported that the Dremora protected him from creatures in the wilds, despite his obvious dislike of the creatures."

"But, the skeleton!" Tullius argued feebly, his shoulders sagging. "You heard Scouts, it attacked a woman in the village. He just barely salvaged the situation. What if it comes after our citizens?"

"The only harassment I've heard regarding our citizens and Sans is a stream of bad jokes. That's hardly something to take up arms against." Elisif sat back on her throne and held her chin high as she addressed the general. "There is absolutely no proof that Be'nseree is an enemy of the city, despite what you want to believe. I don't want to hear about this again, Tullius, or I'll have you stripped of your rank. Do I make myself clear?"

Tullius stared at Elisif, his mouth slightly open. Then his back straightened up, his fists tightened, and his face twisted in anger. Tullius did not wait for Elisif to dismiss him, but turned on his heel and stopped down the stairs. 

Two men from his army were waiting at the entrance. Sighting their general, they jumped to their feet and snapped to attention.

"You two, see to it that the elf woman, Be'nseree, is followed, along with her so called family." Tullius growled at them. "I want her house watched at all times of day. Recruit as many men as you need to do the job. Understand?"

"Sir!" The soldiers chorused. One of them asked timidly, "Sir, I'm not questioning our orders, sir, but haven’t the guards already been watching her?"

“It’s time to double our watch.” Tullius stood with his stance wide and his arms behind his back, staring down at his two men, daring them to argue. They did not. “The guards might be former soldiers, but retirement has made them lazy. I need better men on this. Look for anything suspicious and search the outside of her property. I want even the smallest detail reported to me." Tullius set the soldiers to work and followed them out of the Blue Palace. 

He paused to listen to the cheers and music rising from the festival at the Bard's College. Just before the arched, stone entrance to the grounds, he paused to watch. The city’s people danced with abandon around a flaming wickerman. His shrewd gaze quickly found the two Dremora that had once come to the palace with Scouts. Currently, one was clumsily dancing with a small child with blond hair, its massive sword swaying on its back as he twirled the laughing girl. The other was seated at a table, arm wrestling a man, with more men surrounding them, shouting and spilling the mead in their tankards in their excitement. Tullius scowled and, rather than join the joyful noise, marched right past the crowds towards the barracks, grumbling to himself.

"For the love if Mara… this city is going to the damn dogs. Abandoning the gods for monsters... Elisif wants evidence? Fine. I'll give her evidence. Even if I have to make it myself."

~~~

The treetops shook violently, showering Sans with a waterfall of dead leaves and snow as the green dragon passed overhead, a dark shadow against a sea of stars. The beast couldn’t land due to the thick trunks on all sides, and for that Sans was grateful.

What he was  _ not _ grateful for was that the dragon still pursued him after dark. He had stayed in that horrible canyon until nightfall, feeling sick after sitting so long on stones soaked with old blood and breathing in the foul stench, in the hopes that he would be able to shake the beast off his trail in the cover of darkness. He had been wrong. The dragon hadn’t been able to find him in the canyon, so Sans guessed that his theory, that he was being tracked by scent, was right, but he had no way to solve that problem currently. So he ran.

Turning on the spot, Sans teleported through the snowy forest in short bursts, appearing a stone’s throw away from where he had been only to turn and disappear again. Teleportation was a unique spell that used only small amounts of magicka for short distances, but the cost increased exponentially with longer jumps. Waiting in the canyon had replenished some of his magicka, but not much. He was freezing, famished, and fatigued. Sans hoped he was going in the right direction. If he didn’t find someplace to hide soon, to rest, he would be pinned by the beast that pursued him.

He reached the edge of the forest. Sans could see the village in the distance beyond the harvested wheat fields, could spot the pinpricks of torchlight in the moonless night. The green dragon wheeled around in the sky and gilded towards him. Panicked, Sans used the last of his magic to teleport across the vast distance and land directly inside the village walls.

The inner village was deserted. All the inhabitants had gone to bed and all of the sentries were on the wall, watching the forest and fields for threats, not the inside for people teleporting. Sans quickly found the village center and hid under the rickety watchtower, his eye lights following the shadow of the dragon in the sky. It hovered high in the night over the bare fields, its great wings beating almost silently, as if contemplating whether or not it should get closer. The goblin guards on the wall pointed at it, raising an alarm. They did not recognize the shadow as that of a dragon, but a form that large frightened them. Some of the gobins trained their arrows on the massive shadow, ready to fire if it should get any closer.

As the warning bell rang and the village woke, Sans pulled the dragon priest mask he still had inside his robes out and over his skull, remembering the reactions those humans had when they saw Arvak. He didn’t want anyone to see his true face and think he was undead. 

“My, my, what’s this? A little skeleton, breaking in?” A bright voice asked. Sans jumped, he didn’t think anyone had noticed him yet, and turned to squint into the dark. The woman behind him had long red hair tied back into twin braids. “That’s what the mask is for, isn’t it?”

“B-Beans?” He asked nervously, then looked closer. No, this woman had brown skin and yellow eyes, rounded ears instead of pointed ones. Instead of armor, she was wearing a black dress with a slit on one side that showed off white stockings that came past her knees. He might’ve called her beautiful, if it weren’t for that devilish grin maring her face.

The woman laughed. “Not quite, little man. Don’t you know me? I’m offended that you don’t!” She put a hand to her chest, exaggerating a look of pain, but then smiled cruelly at him. “Cuz I know you. You’re Demiurge’s plaything, aren’t you?” Her grin widened as the clamor around them rose and people left their houses. “I should return you to where you belong, scared little skeleton. Don’t toys know that they should stay in their boxes?”

Sans took a step back as the woman drew a golden staff, its head had a spiked pattern like the sun, from her back and readied it towards him. Sweat poured down his skull as he examined her Love. It wasn’t ridiculously high, it was the same as Nabe’s, but she was still a threat and he had no magic left for a fight. He couldn’t even teleport away. What the hell was he going to do?

“INTRUDER!” She shouted shrilly, her voice full of fear, though her face was still smiling. “He’s trying to set fire to the houses! Intruder!”

The staff came plunging down, smacking Sans hard in the shoulder. He staggered, gasping in pain, and tried to run. A crowd of people and goblins, called over by the woman’s shouting, were quickly gathering around him and the woman, forming a wall that tightened with each moment, and Sans was forced to skid to a stop. The people were weak, too weak to be a threat, even with their crude farm tool weapons, but Sans didn’t have the time or any magic to shove them aside to escape. Something blunt hit the back of his skull and he dropped to the ground, seeing stars.

“Lupisregina, that’s the guy that attacked Nabe!” One of the the villagers yelled, pointing at Sans as he climbed to his feet, holding his aching skull in his gloved hand.

“How dare you!” The woman snarled and swung her staff again, this time catching Sans in the ribs. He could hear his bones cracking. Her attacks hurt, a lot, but none of them hit as hard as they should have, for someone of her Love. They weren’t meant to finish him. With a pang of fear, Sans realized this woman was playing with him. She cried out, “And now he’s back to hurt all you innocent people! Well, I won’t allow it!”

Sans looked back at the woman as she raised her staff again, a sadistic smile on her face. She was going to take her time as she beat him to death. The crowd of humans and goblins alike worked itself into a frenzy as they screamed for his destruction. Sans raised his arm up to protect himself, his eye lights fading as he waited for the blow to come…

Someone screamed. Others joined it. Sans’ eye lights reappeared and he saw the crowd scattering. The woman held her staff in the air, her mouth open as she stared at the sky, at the green dragon illuminated by torchlight, hovering above the village center. The dragon’s mouth opened, releasing words of thunder that shook the air and ground. Even after the words faded, the ground continued to tremble; the earth shivering and undulating as something beneath it squirmed and struggled to get free.

A black, skeletal hand shot out of the snow next to Sans. Crying out in surprise, he rolled away from the undead as it parted the dirt above it. It wasn’t the only one; at least half a dozen dark skeletons, all with various weapons, had clawed their way out of the ground. Their bones were as black as ink, their eye sockets alight with red orbs. Their bones creaked and leaked dark smoke into the frosty air as they drew jagged swords, or knocked arrows in their twisted bows.

_ Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck! _ Sans scrambled to back away from the black skeleton nearest him, away from the smoke leaking from its undead body. It raised its sword, red lights dancing in its skull... and charged at the woman with her staff. Sans froze, confused, and watched as all of the dark skeletons attacked the woman. She lashed out viciously with her staff, a wicked snarl on her face as one of the skeletons exploded from the impact.

The earth shook violently, knocking everyone to the ground, even the woman and the skeletons that attacked her. Sans looked around for the cause, his eye lights dilating with horror as he saw the green dragon had landed in the village and crushed houses beneath its massive body. 

Its huge head snaked towards him, steam leaking from the corners its open mouth into the winter air. Sans tried to scramble to his feet - too late. The dragon had him inside its jaws, its sword-like teeth holding him like a prison as its wet tongue soaked his robes.

Sans struggled as the beast took flight. He knew it was futile, knew that he couldn’t fight back without his magic. But he didn’t want to die. Not yet. The dragon growled at his struggle, the noise vibrating Sans’ bones. The dragon’s fangs closed completely, sealing his fate, but Sans continued to wriggle and kick at the inside of the dragon’s mouth.

In his last moments, Sans felt his sins crawling on his back. He was stupid for killing that dumb lizard, stupid for running from the dragon, stupid for wasting all his magic and not leaving enough to defend himself. And for what? What was the point?

At that last thought, Sans’ eye lights faded and he sagged against the dragon’s teeth, feeling defeated. What was the point in fighting? His brother was dead; killed by the humans that had raided the Underground after the barrier broke and Beans had left. The world he had once called home was nothing but a dust filled graveyard at this point. And Beans… his last friend, the one who rescued him from his own despair, the one person who had made his soul feel complete again, hated him. 

If he was going to die, right now in a dragon’s mouth, then his only regret was not telling her exactly how much she had meant to him. He had always cared deeply for her, he was aware of that ever since they lay together beneath the stars of this new world. When had that other feeling taken hold? He felt it tug at his soul when she smiled, whenever she laughed and made dumb jokes with him… 

He should have told her, that night he woke up, before Scouts had tried to kill him. Her wake up call had been so unexpected, but damn  _ it felt so good _ . His soul had wanted for her, something that always seemed untouchable, for so long. He should have pushed her back onto the bed, held her in his arms and -

Sans fell to the cold ground. Albeit wet and roughed up, but alive. The dragon had carried him far from the village; deep into the plains where no creatures ventured in the night. The beast rested its head in the snow close to Sans, examining him with one large, emerald eye.

“I did not hurt you, did I?” It asked in a deep voice that vibrated Sans’ ribs.

Sans lay on the ground, staring at the stars, hardly daring to believe he was still alive. The dragon nuzzled him with its massive snout and Sans finally responded.

“What the hell!?” He yelled, all his previous despair washing back into him, and pushed the dragon away from him with as much strength as his shaking bones could muster. “Just kill me already, you piece of shit! That’s what she wants, right? Just get it over with and stop fucking toying with me!”

“I was not sent to kill you.” The dragon huffed, the steam that jetted from its nostrils melted the snow around Sans and dried his robes. “My actions saved you from death, which would have befell you in that village. Qahnaarin me sent to give you a message.”

“Yeah, I get it.” Sans stood and ripped his mask off to properly glare at the dragon. “I’m not wanted. I killed her husband, the love of her life, and she hates me! Son of a bitch, do you have to rub it in?”  _ Why couldn’t you have had some mercy and killed me while I had that image of her in bed in my skull? At least I would have died happy... _

The dragon chuckled, a noise like boulders tumbling together. “Will you receive my message or not?”

Sans grumbled darkly, “Do I really have a choice?”

The dragon blinked slowly, its emerald, cat-like eyes contracting. “You must be willing. I could tell you, but Qahnaarin wanted you to hear her own words. For that to happen, you must accept my gift of knowledge. I cannot force it upon you.”

“Just say it!” Sans threw his hands up in frustration. “I’m not accepting anything from you dragons.” 

He wasn’t going to agree to anything, not after what happened with Ohdahviing. If this dragon thought he could blackmail Sans into feeding him human corpses, or whatever it was that he wanted, he could just forget it.

“Very well.” The dragon huffed again, clearly irritated, and lifted its massive head to look down upon Sans. “Qahnaarin’s words are this: ‘Please come home.’ There is much feeling that she bestowed upon me to give to you, but I do not understand it, and so cannot put it into words.”

Sans crossed his arms, his eye lights squinting at the dragon. “I don’t believe you.”

He didn’t dare believe, didn’t dare have hope at a dragon’s words. Dragon’s were cruel creatures.

“What reason do you have not to?” The dragon’s tail twitched with impatience. “I have not lied. I am not here to kill you, as you have claimed.”

“But… why would she want me back? I don’t mean anything to her.” Sans argued feebly and sat in the snow, trying hard to think of why Beans would want him to return to Solitude after what he did. 

“I can show you that you are quite wrong,” The dragon bought his head close to Sans once more. “If you will accept my gift of knowledge, then I can at least tell her that I tried to convince you. Accept this, and I will not approach you again.”

Sans thought for a long moment. He didn’t trust the dragon, but it was true that it had saved him from that staff-wielding woman in the village. Even if it turned out this dragon was lying, that didn’t change his current situation. What did it want to do? Gift him knowledge? He remembered Beans doing that with the Greybeards; when the cult of old men had taught her how to use her Voice.

So would it hurt him, or his soul? Sans couldn’t see how. If it were dangerous, he couldn’t reason why Beans would agree to do it with the Greybeards.

What did he have to lose? Looking up at the beast, he nodded.

The dragon blinked its emerald eyes. The air between it and Sans swirled with the force of a gale. Sans held up his hand against his sockets, protecting them from the snow that whipped through the air, and all went dark.

_ He was flying above the forest, in a body that wasn’t his, with a small weight on his back. Salt and sweat and the smell of coming winter tinged the air. He looked back and he could see an elf in Daedric armor, crying his name, wondering where he was, cursing that she couldn’t find him. _

_ The world faded and changed. This time he was on the ground with the armored elf between his teeth, setting her on the browning grass of the plains. _

_ “We have been flying for four days. You need food and sleep. You push yourself too far.” _

_ “I need him!” She cried, the smell of salt thick in the air. “Why can’t I find him? I feel like a failure…” _

_ The world changed. He was perched on the roof of the manor in Solitude, looking into the topmost window with one of his eyes. Inside he could see a small skeleton laying, as if lifeless, on a bed, while she sat in a chair next to him, holding his hand. Waiting patiently for him as day turned to night and into day and into night. _

_ The world changed again. Sans could see the outside of the snow-covered manor in Solitude, but his body, winged, massive, powerful; was perched on the wall that separated the city of stone from the wild mountain. _

_ “What has upset you so?” _

_ “Everything,” Beans sniffed as she hugged his scaled snout, the air thick with the smell of salt from the tears she held back. “I keep fucking up, Durnehviir, and now I’ve scared Sans away.” _

_ The world shimmered slightly, distorting itself and hiding some of the words that were said, but the scene did not change as it had before. Beans looked up at him, her eyes red from crying, and asked timidly, “Could you give him a message for me?” _

_ “I will do this,” he said in a deep voice, “for you.” _

_ The world darkened for a final time, and a rush of emotion filled him. Anger, that he lied; hurt, that he must’ve felt the need to do so; remorse, for her actions; fear, that something would happen while he was gone and she couldn’t protect him. Her voice called out in the darkness, like chimes in the wind, “Sans, I’m sorry. I never wanted you to be afraid of me. Please, come home.” _

Sans fell back into the snow, his mind reeling, struggling to make sense of the memories that weren’t his. He patted his body down, just to make sure he was still made of bones. He couldn’t say anything for a long while, until the foreign memories finally fell into place.

“How…?” He asked weakly, looking up at the dragon.

The dragon, Durnehviir, Sans realized it was called, shuffled in the snow as he got comfortable. “Dovah can share knowledge and memories with each other, by sharing parts of our soul. We can gift them to other beings as well, if they are willing. It is the highest truth we have; one cannot tell lies this way.”

Sans started at his gloved hands, still trying to determine how he felt about this new information. He could definitely feel the truth in the memories Durnehviir shared.

Had she really looked for him that long without food or rest? To the point where Durnehviir had to make her stop; to force her to take care of herself?

_ “I need him!” _

Sans felt his soul tighten as he recalled those words. How could she say that, when she had tried to throw him out, to banish him? Didn’t she want to kill him? She had destroyed those stone steps when she found out what she did… but that message… her feelings that she gifted to Durnehviir….

_ “Please come home.” _

Sans held his skull in his hands. He should never have run away. Beans might be angry with him, but she obviously cared. He felt the corner of his eye sockets start to burn, but fought the feeling. He still had so many questions, ones that only Beans herself could answer, but one thing still nagged at him. “Why didn’t Beans come find me herself? Why did she send you?”

Durnehviir hummed thoughtfully, contemplating the stars. “When I was trying to find you, and you were hiding in the mountains, Odahviing found me. He said that Qahnaarin was leaving, for how long, he couldn’t say, to try and help the city with a man named Momon. I was told this so that I would not wonder for her, if I came home with you.”

“That asshole!” Sans jumped to his feet, his fists clenched at the mention of the red dragon. “He tried to blackmail me! How do you know he wasn’t lying?”

Durnehviir chuckled. “His nose was bloodied and broken when we spoke. I can guess that Qahnaarin did indeed question him, after I left, about the words shared between you and him. Of what was actually said, he chose not to divulge that information.”

“So, where is she?” Sans felt quite unlike his usual self- he was restless. He had to speak with her. Just thinking about those visions that Durnehviir shared made his soul swell and filled his mind with questions that needed answers. “If she’s not in Solitude, where?”

Durnehviir’s great, green wings ruffled in his way of a shrug. Sans cursed and paced in the snow. Why wouldn’t she tell anyone  _ where _ she was going? Especially if she wanted him to come back! To come home. Sans paused, his soul warming as he remembered those words that Durnehviir gifted to him. 

He had a home. He wasn’t alone, and that meant everything.

Sans shook the fuzzy feelings from his skull and resumed pacing. Thinking about that wasn’t going to get him any closer to finding out where Beans was. His hand came up to cradle his chin as the gears in his head resumed turning. 

He went over what information he did have: she had left Solitude, for who knows how long, and with Momon. He knew enough about the first two, but what did he know about Momon? Where would he take her and why? Durnehviiir had said it was to help Solitude, and he knew that the city needed trade to survive, but from where? Sans didn’t have a spell like Clairvoyance to just show him the way.

His trail of thought lead back to Momon. If he could find the dark warrior, he would find Beans. But where would he be? Definitely another city, if they were going to do something with trade. The village had been too small to sustain Solitude. Momon had said so himself, when he and Beans were discussing making equipment… 

That’s right, Momon was an adventurer. He had a bronze plate that said so. Didn’t he say once where he had gotten it? At an adventurers guild? Based in- 

“E-Rantel.” Sans mumbled into his glove, remembering the first time he had met Momon as he guided Beans, Scouts, and himself through the woods to the village. Momon had told Beans about the guild and where it was based. Sans had been eavesdropping from his spot astride Arvak. “But I don’t know where that is! Do you, Durnehviir?”

The dragon shook his massive green head once. “Odahviing is the one that surveys the land, not I, and he does not learn the names of the settlements from his place in the sky.”

A light popped in Sans’ skull. He remembered the day after the world changed, had become something other than Tamriel. He and Beans had flown on Odahviiing to survey the land, to draw out a map of everything surrounding the lonely mountain that was their home.

“There’s a city on the far edge of the plains, to the South of Solitude.” Sans looked out over the snowy expanse, wondering how far away said city would be. If he headed out in one direction and was off, even by a little, he might miss it entirely. “It’s probably not E-Rantel, but if I can get there, I can ask for directions.”

“Qanaarin warned me not to get too close to cities or villages,” Durnehviir lowered his head next to Sans, offering the spot behind his four horns. “I have already ignored that warning, to save you, but I shall not do so again. I will take you until the city you speak of is within sight and no further.”

“What, you want me to ride you?” Sans asked in disbelief. He did not like flying, and did not trust the green dragon enough to think he wouldn’t be thrown off.

The dragon seemed to sense his misgivings. “I gave Qahnaarin my oath that I would protect you, which I have done so far, no? But if you would rather walk, then so be it.”

“Wait,” Sans stopped the dragon as it unfurled its wings, thinking about the long, cold walk he would have if he didn’t fly. “I don’t get it. Why would you help me? Why are you so different from Odahviing?”

Durnehviir chuckled. “Qahnaarin gave me new life and freedom. I am forever in her debt. I would not offer this to you, if you were not so close, and meant so much to her.”

Sans nodded, understanding too well what being given a new life felt like. Nervously, he climbed onto Durnehviir’s neck, straddling just behind his scaled head so that he could grip the top two of the dragons four, curling horns tightly.

~~~

The rooms in the barracks had no windows. Instead, there were small vents for air circulation. This is to ensure that enemies could never know how many soldiers were inside and to protect the men inside from any external attack.

The General’s personal office was no exception. The room felt claustrophobic, despite the large space and sparse furnishings. Several torches were mounted on the stone walls, their flames flickering slightly from the chill air leaking through the vents, casting long shadows around the room. Other than that, a worn table with a map of Tamriel and a weapons rack with a single, steel sword were all that adorned the stone room.

Legate Rikke, a woman with a strong jawline and stern, brown eyes, stood at attention before the table. Her steel helmet was held in the crook of her arm, allowing her tightly braided, dirty-blonde hair to breathe. Across the table, General Tullius examined her stance.

“Sir, it’s the middle of the night.” Rikke tried to keep her tired voice firm, to show the General respect, and to show the grunt by his side how a high ranking officer should always act. “What’s happened?”

General Tullius whispered something to the grunt, sending him scurrying from the room. The corners of his mouth twitched as he refocused his gaze to study the map of Tamriel on the table. Once it had been a key factor in planning for the civil war, but now, here in this new world, it was useful only as a reminder of what had been.

“You remember my concerns regarding the elf woman.” Tullius said. It was not a question, but Rikke nodded to show that she was paying attention. “What were your thoughts on that, again? Remind me.”

“Sir.” Rikke fought the urge to roll her eyes. She was woken up, after a  _ festival day _ , in the middle of the night, for this? Another rant about the evil elf woman? “I understand your concerns, sir, and you know I care for the woman little more than you do, but there is nothing to be done.”

“Is that so?” Tullius slowly made his way around the table, to stare at the side of Rikke’s head as she focused her gaze on the opposite wall. “I see. What would it take to change your mind? Proof?”

Rikke tightened her grip on her helm. “Are you saying you have some, sir?”

Tullius smiled, gesturing so that Rikke turned to the doorway behind her, where two grunts were hauling a barrel into the room.

“You recall the report I shared with you earlier today,” Tullius walked back around the table, allowing the grunts to place the barrel between it and Legate Rikke, who watched the men with interest. “Regarding the supposed disappearance of the Argonian, and the elf’s explanation?”

“I do, sir.” Rikke glanced at the barrel, wondering why he had brought it. It looked like a standard barrel from the East Empire Company, one that she could easily find anywhere else in the city. She could feel the cold radiating from it, washing over and into her leather boots. Was it full of ice?

“Then I suggest you take a look at what we found hiding under the elf’s porch.”

Rikke raised her eyebrow at the General. To search someone’s home, without probable cause, was illegal. If Jarl Elisif knew what the General had done… But he knew what the consequences would be. She had heard from the men that accompanied the General to the Blue Palace what the Jarl’s warning had been.

“Go on, Legate.”

Taking a step forward, Rikke lifted the lid of the barrel. Almost immediately, she dropped it again, cursing to herself.

“Stendarr’s mercy!” She breathed, forcing herself to act over her initial fright and lift the lid again, to satisfy her morbid curiosity.

“Our men spotted her hiding it hours after our meeting in the Palace.” The General’s eyes sparkled with vindication, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “She said he had left the city... Ha! She lied to the Jarl. To  _ me. _ What else has she been lying about?”

Rikke let the lid fall back onto the barrel, unable to take the sight of the broken body any more. If someone had told her earlier that a barrel could fit a grown man's corpse inside, she would have laughed and said it was impossible. Not now. Now, she felt sick. “I… don’t know, sir.”

“ _ Exactly. _ ” Tullius slammed his fist on the table. One of the corners of the map sprung loose from a nail, and rolled in on itself. “But now there is evidence. Undeniable proof that this woman is a murderer!”

“What do you suggest we do, sir?” Rikke looked at the General, at the manic glint in his eye.

“I will, obviously, bring this to the Jarl.” Tullius straightened up and clasped his hands behind his back. “Meanwhile, I will need you to ready the men. This woman is going to be put under arrest, whenever she returns, for murder.”

“Sir, you think that, wise?” Rikke looked at the barrel again, her stomach turning. “The Jarl adores that elf. And a woman who can kill and tame dragons can easily resist…”

“Indeed, but she needs to open her eyes to our situation. We have a long way to go to prepare for the elf’s return, and that of the undead she will bring.” Tullius nodded to his men, signalling them to take the barrel away. “But I assure you, Legate, that the Eight Divines are behind us. Locking that elf in the dungeon is just the first step we must take in purging this city of evil influence.”


	12. Ch 12 - Trials and Tribulations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I'm sick, you all get another chapter! Haha, what else is there to do when you're lying in bed?
> 
> Enjoy the story, lovelies, and thank you for your support. <3

"Everything seems to be in order." Demiurge nodded, his finger slowly tracing the rim of his empty espresso cup while he studied Beans, his jeweled eyes glinting. "The skeletons Lord Ainz offered for you to use have already been created. We simply need to pick among those that already populate Nazarick's first floor. The other supplies, however, will take three days to put together due to the volume. I must admit that I'm surprised your city's population isn't higher than what you claim."

"And my special requests? The brushes and paints for Sissel, and the practise weapons for Sophie?" Beans asked as she sipped her fourth latte, her words spilling out like a torrent from her mouth, her hands shaking slightly from the caffeine. "Don't forget the new sheets for Jordis! I think she would really like them, even if she says that she prefers that dumb bedroll."

She wanted to bring home gifts for her family, to show them that she loved them and that she didn't enjoy being away from them for longer than she needed to. Guessing presents for the girls had been easy; they chatted to her constantly about their likes and dislikes when she was at home. 

Jordis had been a little more difficult. The housecarl never complained about her things and insisted that all she wanted was to serve Beans. She had agreed when Beans pressed her that new armor would be fine, but that alone didn’t seem like enough of a gift to show how much Beans appreciated that Jordis ran the house while she was gone.

As for the twins, her racing mind decided, she would give them a chance to prove their strength against her. They didn't seem like the types to want anything material. Unless they did, but she hadn't had too much time to get to know the Dremora Lords and their preferences. 

She had no idea where to even begin with choosing gifts for the dragons. Durnehviir had only ever wanted his soul’s freedom, and she was still angry with Odahviing for toying with-

"And remember those cooking lessons we discussed!" Beans' heart skipped painfully as she thought about the last member of her household. There wasn't a gift big enough to show him how sorry she felt for her actions, but she had to start somewhere. "I need to be better than I am."

"Yes, I've already said that Nazarick can provide anything you need." Demiurge rolled his eyes and watched as Beans drained the last of her caramel latte before fidgeting in her seat. "You're sure that we have to speak with your, what did you call it - Jarl? - before entering the city? Forgive me for assuming, but I thought you were the one that ruled there."

Beans shook her head, perhaps a bit more than necessary. "I don't want to rule over anything; that's Elisif's job. That's why we need to talk to her first. There shouldn't be any problems, the people are already used to the creatures in my house, but Elisif asked me to give her warning before bringing undead into the city. You're coming with, right? I'd like to introduce you to her since we might be doing this for awhile. We can leave the caravan on the road until we reassure her the undead are safe."

"That won't be necessary." Demiurge waved the suggestion away. "We won't be travelling on the road. Once formalities have been dealt with in the city we shall simply have them travel to us through a Gate."

Beans eyed the devil across the table, wondering if using a spell like Gate in the middle of town was a good idea. Her time with Demiurge gave Beans a mixed impression. He had been patient with her explanation of the city, only asking small questions here or there to clarify the population size and the citizens’ normal diet, but he also seemed very bored when she tried to talk about any of the human’s lives. He had, on the other hand, been quite curious about her household and very flattering about her management of her family when she described the variety creatures under her proverbial wings. Demiurge also seemed to love kids. His jeweled eyes lit up when she had told him that she had two daughters.

"Let's use Gate outside of the city." Beans wiped melted whipped cream off the side of her empty cup and licked it off her finger. "The people in Solitude are understanding, to a point, but something like that might scare them if we don't give them a chance to understand it first." Thinking of Tullius, Beans added bitterly, "They like to shoot things that scare them."

"Very well." Demiurge sighed and leaned back in his seat. He wore no watch, and the cafe had no clocks, but he said, "It seems we still have a bit of time before I must leave. Did you have anything you wanted to ask me regarding the ways of Nazarick? If you don't, perhaps you'll let me sate my curiosity with you?"

Beans had dozens of questions, from Ainz’s two wives to the elf children to the meeting Demiurge would go to without her, but her coffee drunk mind flitted from one subject to another like an overenthusiastic bird, unable to choose just one. Figuring that she'd decide on something while she talked, Beans shook her head and offered the floor to Demiurge.

"Would you tell me about your children?" Demiurge asked in a silky voice and leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands and focusing all of his attention on her. "Lord Ainz has not said much about you to us Guardians, but one of the things he did confide to me was that your husband is a lizardman. I’ve always been curious about what unique powers or abilities a half-breed might contain. Unfortunately, my own studies into the subject have yet to yield results... How did you manage it? What are they like, these half elf, half lizardman children?"

Beans felt herself flush. Did Demiurge mean that he had tried for kids with members outside of his own species and was coming to her for some kind of advice? She was not the person to talk to about incompetence. Flustered, she stuttered, "S-scouts and I never had kids together. The girls were part of my house way before I married him. They're both human. Just human."

"Oh?" Demiurge watched her, though the light of his curiosity faded slightly. 

Relieved that he wasn't pressing for details, Beans continued, "It doesn't matter that they're adopted; I love them like my own. They  _ are _ my own. Sophie was the first. I found her living on the streets of Windhelm. She was selling flowers to make ends meet. I don’t know if she grew them herself or just picked them, but she was always asked so politely for me to buy one when I walked by, and worked so hard just for a few gold. The thought of her hungry, sleeping all alone in the snow covered streets… it broke my heart. So I took her in. Sophie settled in right away. She loved practicing with the wooden sword I gave her, but would still make the time to run around the city with the other kids. Not long after I brought her home, maybe a few months, she found a bunny out in the woods near Solitude and they’ve been inseparable ever since.” Beans chuckled fondly, remembering the day that the brown haired girl had brought home the rabbit.

“As for Sissel… I found her in a small farming village, living with her father and sister. But it wasn't a kind house to live in. I heard so many threats of violence towards Sissel from her own sister, promising her beatings if she didn't obey her every whim; so many degrading curses and wishes from her father that his children should have never been born. For whatever reason, he hated Sissel in particular. The more I dug, the more I unearthed. It was sickening what they did to my poor child." 

“The father didn’t object to you taking her?” Demiurge raised an eyebrow, his tone disbelieving. “My experience with humans has shown that they don’t care to be separated from their children.”

Beans paused, wondering if Demiurge would judge her for what she did for the blonde girl - she sure as hell wasn’t ashamed of her past actions. Demiurge said nothing and just stared, waiting patiently for Beans to continue. Beans folded her hands together tightly, cracking her knuckles as she remembered the full story, and took a moment to calm herself. Taking a deep breath, Beans continued quietly, "I killed them. I told Sans to wait at the inn and went out that night. I put on the armor you see me wearing now, picked the lock and snuck into their house, and slit their throats while they lay sleeping in bed. I hid the bodies in the basement. When Sans and I came back to their field the next day, we found Sissel. Standing there alone among the wheat, lamenting that she had no more family, that they had disappeared, and that there was no one to care for her. She was afraid she would be carted away to rot in the orphanage. She never saw that place; I adopted her immediately. Once she came to Solitude... she was so happy to be free of them, so happy to finally have a loving home."

The corner of Demiurge's mouth twitched, like he was trying to hide a smile. "You killed her sister, a mere child? Why not just kill the father and leave the other girl be?"

"That little bitch would have inherited everything! Everything!” Beans growled, slamming her hand on the table. There was no doubt in her mind that even children could be evil as she remembered all of those terrible things that Britte had done. Rage boiled in her soul and her black eyes flashed dangerously. “Her bastard father's house and fields… Britte never would have shared a damn thing with Sissel. It was far more likely that she would’ve been kept around just so she could keep on being that brat’s personal punching bag. Like I was going to let her have a chance at all that after what she did to my daughter! Those abusive shits were lucky that death was all I could give them, back then. I would have gladly ripped off their limbs and beat them to death with the same hands that used to hurt my Sissel, or hung them in the trees by their guts to sway in the wind while the crows plucked out their tongues and they screamed for-"

Beans gasped and clapped a hand over her running mouth, startled by the venom that dripped from the words saying, by her soul aching to make those words a reality, and sat back in her chair to whisper Kyne's peace into her palm. Even after her rage had disappeared, she shook, and not from the caffeine. It was wrong, so wrong that she was capable of thinking of such terrible things.

"I see." Demiurge leaned back, the smile that had been a hint on his face now spread from ear to pointed ear. Leaning forward, he gently pried Beans’ hands away from her mouth and held them. “There’s nothing to look so upset about. We’re having such a good time. Let’s back up a bit. Tell me, do you plan on having more children with your husband?”

“What? N-no. I’d never have kids with Scouts. He's dead.” Beans said, only paying half attention to the conversation, and took her hands away from Demiurge. She didn’t want to be touched, not by him, not while her mind was still reeling from the sudden outburst of rage from her soul when she remembered Sissel’s past. 

Why would she get so angry when remembering that, and not when she remembered her own husband’s death? She loved Sissel immensely, but had she really cared so little for Scouts?

“Is he now?” Demiurge, still smirking, leaned back into his chair. “That is quite a shame... I would have liked to see what the fruit of your union would have looked like. Perhaps, though such a thing has never had a result before, you would consider that skeleton follower of yours? I’ve heard he is rather… special.”

“Huh?” Beans’ face flushed at Demiurge’s implication. Imagining, just for a fraction of a moment, what a child borne from Sans and herself might look like. Her heart swelled with a confusing feeling and her face burned with embarrassment. Beans clapped her hands to her hot cheeks and shook her head to banish the image from her mind. “I don’t like where this is going, Demiurge! Why would you even ask that? Talk about something else!”

Demiurge sighed, his smirk disappearing as though a tasty treat had been offered to him and then taken away. “Very well. What is your preferred topic of conversation?”

Beans didn’t know what to talk about. Her chest was still tight with that unnamed emotion, her mind still going too fast to sit down and untangle the web of thoughts in her brain. She wanted to be alone, to try and sort out the mess, but Demiurge was still here. He would leave soon, though, to go to his meeting. A ball of imaginary Magelight popped up in her brain. With a new topic to focus on, Beans’ shoved those confusing feelings deep down and the heat disappeared from her face. Turning back to Demiurge, she asked, “What about those Lizardmen? That’s what your meeting is about, right?”

“You know very well I can’t talk about that.” Demiurge kicked back in his chair, his face as unreadable as a mask as he watched the goat monster, Swizzle, polish his white marble counter back to a shine.

“You don’t have to say anything about what exactly you’re going to discuss.” Beans leaned forward, determined to distract herself by trying to extract what information she could, since it was so obviously secret. “Let me guess, and you tell me if I’m right or wrong. Ai-eh, Lord Ainz said he wanted to start with the lizardmen? Right?”

Demiurge said nothing, but he did watch her out of the corner of his gaze.

“I’m curious what he’s going to do with that.” Beans tapped her finger to her chin, staring at the polished table. 

She thought hard on all of her gaming experience as she tried to guess how Ainz might start to build his new world, the one he told her about at the festival. A world where humans and monsters could live together in peace... how would that start with the lizardmen? 

Beans thought in particular about all the times she had to befriend monsters in the Underground. None of them had been easy. They all had wanted to fight and they all had killed her more than a few times before she could successfully Spare them. Particularly the bosses...

Then, her experience in Skyrim showed her that not all things can be achieved by being a pacifist. Sometimes you just had to fight to get what you wanted, but some people would be willing to cooperate if you helped them first. The people in Solitude had been wary of the monsters in her family, but they tolerated them, maybe even liked them after a time, since she had done so much for the city. They seemed to especially like Durnehviir, if the cheers that greeted him at the festival had been any indication.

It definitely sped things along if you had an overwhelming amount of power at your disposal to either reassure or intimidate. There would be people that resisted (Beans thought specifically about Tullius,) but Ainz had such an obvious royal air about him that she was sure that he would take care of any little problems with hardly any effort at all. Beans had a strong feeling that if Ainz had been in charge during the meeting at High Hrothgar, where the Jarls of Skyrim got together with the Grey Beards to discuss a cease fire while she dealt with Alduin, there probably wouldn’t have been a civil war after that. 

As for her experience with Yggdrasil and it’s world… that was minimal. She had never played the game prior to trying to merge its data with Skyrim. Her only experience was what had happened so far in the new world - in Carne. The people there had been terrified of Arvak, but got along just fine with goblins. Maybe this world was more accepting of monsters, but still hated anything that resembled the undead?

“I’m guessing…” Beans spoke slowly, chewing her words as the gears in her mind spun to double check her logic. “They’re not going to just want to cooperate out of the gate, especially with a skeleton, so you won’t be able to help them. You’re going to have to fight them first. But Ai-um, Lord Ainz wants to build that kind of world… so he’s going to have to start with taking over and ruling the lizardmen, since they probably wouldn’t want an alliance with an army who’s beaten them in battle. He’s had all of you at Nazarick so far to work with, and you all listen to him, but the world isn’t like Nazarick at all. He’ll need to iron out any kinks. Then he’ll expand that out… how am I doing so far?”

Beans looked up at the devil to check how far off her guess was. She had expected him to have some kind of superior look that told her she was wrong. Maybe a smug smirk, or even just the mask-like expression he had donned when they started this topic of conversation. 

Instead he was staring at her, his mouth slightly open and his glasses sliding just a hair’s length down his nose.

Demiurge seemed to realize the expression he was making and quickly got rid of it, hiding his surprise by messing with the black tie around his neck. “Your answer was... highly unexpected.”

Beans smiled, guessing that her theory was spot on by Demiurge’s reaction, even if he didn’t say anything to confirm or deny it.

Demiurge straightened himself, the blue jewels of his eyes sparkling with respect. “I find it quite surprising that you let another woman rule your city, with your wit.”

“I’m no ruler.” Beans shrugged. “I’d rather live my own life and take care of things as they come.” 

_ I couldn’t even get Sans and Scouts to stop fighting, or keep a simple trade route to stay in place. Let alone rule a city or anything more than that! Although… maybe, even if I don’t want to rule anything like Ainz does, if I act like a ruler and ran Solitude I could at least stop worrying about problems at home. Ainz goes out adventuring as Momon, so I could do that too. But I don’t know a thing about running anything! Maybe if I watched Ainz and learned from him… that could work. Heh, and my first law will be to ban formal wear from court. _

“If you insist.” Demiurge stood, his wooden chair squeaking on the tiled floor, and offered Beans his hand, which she took. “It is about time I head out, lest I’m late. Lord Ainz said that you could not attend the meeting, but-”

“No thanks.” Beans cut him off before he could offer anything. “He doesn’t want me there, right? No worries. I could use some alone time anyway.”

Demiurge smirked, his spiked tail twitching with amusement. “Indeed. But I was not going to ask for you to come, since that would disobey a direct order from Lord Ainz. Actually, I wanted to know if I could find you afterwards to continue our discussion. I find your company quite enjoyable.”

“Well…” Beans hesitated. She really wanted to be alone with her thoughts, but there was no telling how much time the meeting would give her. What kind of excuse could she give that wouldn’t hurt his feelings? It wasn’t that she didn’t like Demiurge, but his questions had made her very uncomfortable. “I was actually hoping for a, um, a bath. The maid mentioned there’s one on this floor?”

“There is.” Demiurge waited for Beans to open the door for herself, then followed her from Swizzle’s cafe into the dimly lit hall. “Would you like me to show you before I go?”

“No thanks.” Beans smiled and waved a farewell, turning to leave. “I can find it on my own. Good luck at the meeting, Demiurge!”

“Oh, one last thing.” Demiurge grabbed Beans by her forearm, stopping her from running off. “I would highly recommend you change your clothes. They’re quite… flattering on you, and it might give some of the other Guardians the idea that you’re trying to charm a certain Lord. Understand?”

Beans looked down at her black leather armor, and back up just in time to catch Demiurge’s gaze wandering. She pulled her arm from his hand and nodded curtly. She didn’t like that look, that smirk on his face showing that he knew she caught him…

“Miss Be’nseree?” A maid, one with twin blonde pigtails, approached her and Demiurge, appearing seemingly from the shadows. 

“I can find the damn bath myself!” Beans threw her hands up in frustration. She just wanted to be alone for awhile, was that too much to ask?

“That is not why I’m here.” The maid shook her head, her pigtails swaying, her lips a fine line as she glared at Beans. “Lord Ainz wishes to speak with you after the meeting. You are to wait until he is done and then come to him immediately.”

“Oh? Whatever for?” Demiurge asked curiously. The maid simply shook her head. 

“Lord Ainz did not wish for me to discuss the matter beforehand.” The blonde maid continued to glare at Beans. “He simply commanded that our guest wait until his meeting with the Guardians is over, then to speak with her.”

Beans eyed the maid and her cold gaze, wondering what she had done to offend this member of Nazarick to earn such a look. She had said that Ainz wanted to see her immediately, and without knowing how long the meeting would take… that meant she probably wouldn’t be able to have her bath, or have a chance to think in peace. With a sigh, she said, “Fine. I’ll come with.”

The maid led Beans and Demiurge down to the tenth floor, where the throne room was. Demiurge was the only one to go through the giant metal doors and into the room proper, leaving the maid to shut the doors behind him for privacy. Beans and the maid were left in the dimly lit entrance hall.

It wasn’t such a bad place to wait. There were immaculately carved, dark wooden benches placed at even intervals along the walls. A plush, purple carpet ran down the middle of the stone floor, parting the swirling mosaics like a velvet river. Torches lit the passageway with gentle blue flames, casting an eerie glow to everything the light touched.

If Beans could just ignore the blonde maid that was glaring at her from her place by the double doors, then the hall was a great place to sit and think. Beans sat cross legged on a bench a few paces from the door - far enough that she could ignore the maid’s icy stare, but close enough that she would be ready to go to Ainz once the time came.

What could Ainz even want her for? She had barely seen the regal skeleton since the tour of Nazarick a few days ago, unless you count that brief encounter in the library. Maybe he just wanted to talk about the trade route after he had spoken with Demiurge.

The maid shifted in her stone-like sentry by the door to brush wrinkles out of her black dress. Beans watched her out of the corner of her black eye, then looked quickly away when the blonde woman resumed her silent glaring.

What was the maid’s problem? Had Beans been too harsh to the others, snapping at them to leave her alone when they were just trying to do their jobs? Maybe they had complained to Ainz that Beans was ungrateful.

Beans shifted uncomfortably, nervously picking at the leather seams running down her legs. 

Could it be what happened in the bar with Shalltear? Beans leaned the back of her head against the cool stone bricks and stared at one of the torches. The encounter with the drunk vampire had not gone well. 

Now that Beans thought about it, nobody in Nazarick (except for Ainz) seemed to really like her all that much. Naberal always had a stoney look on her face when she accompanied Ainz in disguise as Momon. Albedo had practically radiated hate during the first introductions. The elf children had so far avoided her, though she had already met Aura once before... Even her meeting with Demiurge had a rough start. The devil seemed more tolerant than anyone else here, and he seemed to be warming up to her by the end of their talk, but why had he asked all those questions about her children and Scouts and…?

The torch on the wall flickered. Beans watched the blue flame, her chest tightening painfully as she thought of Sans. He had always been there, by her side, a constant reassurance and companion. Now she was surrounded by people who hated her.

She was alone.

Beans ran a hand down her face before pinching the bridge of her nose, trying to stop the burning in her eyes as she admitted to herself how much she missed her friend and her family - things she never had in her old life. 

She would have to find Sans, would have to tell him how sorry she was and bring her family back together again. Explain that this was all her fault, that she should have just broken up with Scouts. Before things had gotten that far, before he had attacked Sans.

That's what he claimed had happened, anyway. She had been drunk and passed out for the whole thing, but she wanted to believe him. Sans was fierce when he fought, but he was still a gentle soul and would never attack without provocation. Then again, Scouts had treated Sans terribly while she had done nothing to prevent the inevitable clash.

If she had just told the truth in the first place-

Her breath caught in her throat. What would Sans think, if she told him the truth about Scouts? That she never loved the Argonian and that she only married him for convenience? It didn’t matter that it was all a game before, the New World Event turned everything real. Would he understand? 

Or would he hate her too?

Beans’ black eyes looked away from the blue flames, down to the purple carpet. She had been so angry, so hurt, that Sans had lied about Scouts and tried to cover up his death. It would be beyond hypocritical if she tried to hide her own secrets from him any longer. You didn’t lie to your best friend.

Would he hate her?

A splinter of pain pierced her racing heart as she imagined that conversation with him. Her anxious imagination turned it into one where he yelled and turned away in disgust and never came back. Beans groaned and held her head in her hands, resting her elbows on her crossed knees.

“Hmf. You should be worried.” The blonde maid said matter-of-factly, a satisfied smirk tugging at her mouth as she watched Beans squirm. Beans jumped. She had forgotten that the other woman was there. 

It took Beans a moment to figure out that the maid was not talking about Sans. The double doors to the throne room had parted and the Guardians poured into the hall.

In the lead was Albedo, her beautiful head held high, the black wings on her hips swaying as she walked. She spotted Beans sitting on the bench. Her lip curled in a snarl as her golden eyes took in the leather outfit Beans wore, but she said nothing about it and continued to walk.

Next came Demiurge and the twin elf children. Demiurge nodded to Beans, his expression a bit cold, despite him stating not even an hour earlier that he liked her company. Mare, the elf boy wearing a skirt, hid on Demiurge’s far side and avoided eye contact with Beans. His sister, Aura, abandoned her brother to jog past Beans and up to Albedo’s side.

After that was Shalltear. The vampire stared solemnly at the velvet runner, her sharp fingernails picking at the ivory handle of a lace parasol she carried.

Beans stared after Shalltear. The vampire’s face seemed so sad, so  _ defeated _ , that Beans couldn’t help but feel a small concern and wondered what had happened to make her so mournful. Was it something in the meeting, or was this how she was like when she wasn’t drinking away her sorrow?

“YOU’RE BE’NSEREE, THEN?” A loud, husky voice commanded Beans’ attention. She whirled around on the bench, startled by the sudden noise after long hours of quiet.

The voice’s owner was a huge, four armed, bi-pedal insect. His, for the voice was obviously male, exoskeleton covered him like a suit of heavy armor, glistening with the light blue of frost. His massive mandibles clicked as he examined her with all six of his dark blue, compound eyes, and his long tail curled onto the carpet like a massive chain. Chill leaked from his very body, washing over Beans and causing her to shiver.

The monster stared down at her, waiting for an answer. Beans couldn’t think of anything to say, so she nodded. This seemed to satisfy the monster and he held out one of his clawed hands to her. “MY NAME IS COCYTUS, GUARDIAN OF THE SEVENTH FLOOR. I HOPE YOUR SWORD IS AS SHARP AS THE WIT DEMIURGE TELLS US YOU HAVE.”

“Um, thank you?” Beans took Cocytus’ hand to shake. She quickly let go. It was like touching ice.

“SEE YOU IN THE AMPHITHEATER.” Cocytus waved over his shoulder as he followed his fellow Guardians down the hall.

_ Is that an invitation or…? _ Beans watched Cocytus' form fade into the hall, stopping only when the maid cleared her throat impatiently.

Ainz was waiting for her deep inside the throne room, seated at the top of the raised dias; the only place fit for a king. The maid glared at Beans out of the side of her eye as she bowed low before her Lord. Beans stared into the regal skeleton's sockets, watching those red orbs flicker between the maid and herself, trying to figure out what he could be thinking behind that unchanging face of his.

"That will do." Ainz dismissed the maid with a wave. "I wish to speak with her, alone. Do not disturb us."

"Of course, my Lord." The maid deepened her bow and scurried away. 

Ainz was now matching Beans’ stare.

"Do you know why I called you here?" Ainz asked, his voice a rumble of irritation, after the metal doors to the room snapped shut. It was easy to guess that he was angry with her, but Beans had no idea what for, so she just shook her head in response. 

Judging by the way his red eye lights flashed, this did not please Ainz. He stood up from his throne and walked down the steps of the dias, stopped short at the last step, and glared at her, his dark aura flickering ominously. “Don’t play coy with me, Be’nseree. You have a lot of explaining to do, and I don’t have a lot of patience today.”

“Okay, I’m sorry about the maids.” Beans sighed, trying to explain, “I got frustrated with them and didn’t mean to yell... er, that’s not it?” Beans shifted under Ainz’s cold stare, watched his grip tighten on his twisted, golden staff. “Not it. Um, then what happened with Shalltear-”

“Enough playing around!” Ainz yelled, his dark aura flaring dangerously as he got in her face. Beans felt herself shiver in a moment of fear. Not many beings could stand taller than her, but Ainz was one of those few, and he was clearly pissed. “I open up my home to you, agree to help you and your city, and how do you repay me? By sending your companion and your dragon to attack Carne and Lupisregina? Do you have any idea how much time and effort I’ve invested in that village and now-”

“Hold on!” Beans took a step back from the enraged skeleton king, holding up her hands in a kind of surrender as his clenched fist shook. He was not used to being interrupted. “Back up, just a bit. What’s this about Sans and Durnehviir? What’s going on in Carne?”

Ainz clenched and unclenched his fist, his eye lights darting around in his sockets as he studied her face. 

“ _ What’s _ going on in Carne?  _ Who _ is Lupisregina?” Beans asked again, emphasizing her words in the hopes that she could convey to Ainz that she had no idea what he was talking about and that she wanted answers. Worry was already filling up her chest at the mention of her friends and the word ‘attack’ in the same sentence.

Ainz stared her down, his skull unreadable, before he turned and strode to his throne, releasing his staff to float by his side while he took a set and steepled his hands. “You don’t know… I see... I’ve gotten ahead of myself. Let’s start this over and get to the bottom of it. ...why is your companion, Sans, not with you?”

“Does that really matter?” Beans said, a twinge of pain running through her heart. She didn’t want to talk about that issue with anyone, least of all, Ainz.

“It does matter.” Ainz said irritably and leaned forward in his throne, to watch her actions closely. “What you say from here on out will help me determine if I’m still going to provide support for Solitude, and if you’re still fit to help me with the lizardmen.”

“Wha-? What do you mean withdraw support?” Beans felt her jaw drop open. This couldn’t be happening. She was trying so hard to help her city, her people; why did it feel like the world didn’t want that? “I don’t even know what’s going on! What does them being in Carne have to do with anything? In Nazarick or Solitude?”

Ainz explained calmly, though there was still an undercurrent of irritation to his tone, “I have a lot invested in certain individuals from that village. I need to know why you decided to send your companions there. One of my own, Lupisregina, was stationed there, and reported being attacked. Can you understand my thought process? Your companion is always by your side, then he is not, and then Carne is under attack. You told Sans about Nazarick, yes?”

“I didn’t send them!” Beans felt her heartbeat in her throat. “I didn’t tell him anything. We… we had a fight during the festival and he left before I could tell him about you. Even if I did, how would he know you were involved with Carne? You never told me about that! Or how would he know what someone from Nazarick looks like? He’s never met any of your maids or Guardians or whatever else you have here that even I haven’t seen. Besides, he would never attack someone without good reason… he’s a pacifist.”

“Your companion has already attacked Naberal, so I have a hard time believing that. You’ll have to work a little harder to convince me.”

“He’s not like that!” Beans gripped the black leather of her armor tightly and bit her lip. “Sans isn’t violent. He.. he just wanted to get away from me. That village is the only other settlement we’ve been to. He might’ve gone there to hide. If this Lupisregina tried to.... If he felt cornered… then maybe. And if it looked like she was going after him… I sent Durnehviir to protect Sans. He would help if Sans was fighting.”

“Protect him…?” Ainz hummed thoughtfully and leaned back in his throne. It was a long while before he said, “I had the impression that you two were close. Why would he want to get away from you?”

Beans’ grip tightened almost to the point of tearing her leather. It was a painful question she had been asking herself ever since their argument. Should she tell Ainz what happened?

If she did, and Ainz thought Sans was dangerous, especially to his underlings in Nazarick, who knows what he would do? He had wanted to kill Sans once before, in Carne, over a misunderstanding. This situation, right now, was like then. Only this time Ainz was giving her a chance to explain.

Why did Sans want to get away from her?

Her heart clenched painfully. For her temper, obviously. For the rage that ate at her soul and caused her to lash out. 

What would Ainz think if she told him that Sans had killed Scouts? It didn’t matter what the circumstances were; if she told him that, he would never believe that Sans wasn’t the type to attack out of nowhere. That was her problem. Beans was far more likely to attack someone than Sans.

She couldn’t tell Ainz the truth. She would have to lie. Beans didn’t give a damn what anyone thought about her, but she would protect Sans, just like she had done in Solitude when she had spoken to Elisif. It was her mistakes that had led to that event. She wouldn’t let Sans take the blame, and the hate that came with it, when it was her inaction that caused that death.

“I… I killed Scouts.” Beans said quietly, avoiding Ainz’s gaze lest he saw the slight dishonesty in them. “Sans confronted me about it and I… got angry. He ran away because he was afraid of me.”

“You killed your husband? Demiurge said he was dead but...” Ainz said, the surprise apparent in his voice, and took his boney hands away from his face. “Why?”

Beans bowed her head and stared at the floor, not willing to look up to see if Ainz believed her. “He threatened Sans.”

“Hm… I don’t think I would have ever believed that,” Ainz said, rising from his throne again. “If I hadn’t fought you myself for threatening him. That, and I just heard from Demiurge about what you did for one of your daughters. Sissel, wasn’t that her name?”

Beans watched the hem of his robe travel across the stones until he was standing before her once more.

“You heard about that?” Beans raised her head. Ainz was standing uncomfortably close, watching her with those red lights, his face an unreadable mask of bone.

“Of course. Everything that is learned by those in Nazarick comes back to me, eventually, and Demiurge was quite eager to share everything he learned about you.” Ainz scratched at his chin with one boney finger, even though he was undead and it was impossible for him to get itchy.

“But you believe me, right? I never sent anyone to attack the village.” Beans dared to let a small smile tug at the corners of her lips. “And you believe me when I say that Sans wouldn’t harm anyone intentionally, right?”

“Hm… I suppose. Even after you have been here at Nazarick, it’s not like I ever took the time to share my plans for Carne with you.” Ainz crossed his arms and leaned back, still studying her with that intense red gaze. “It would also be unreasonable to assume you had learned about all of Nazarick’s inhabitants after only a week. And the maids have never once seen you use Message to communicate with anyone on the outside...”

“So, you’ll still help Solitude?” Beans felt her smile grow.

“No.”

“What?!” The smile was gone. “Ainz, why? That’s so unfair! I-”

Ainz held up a hand to stop her words. “I can’t just sweep this under the rug, Be’nseree. The fact is, one of your companions attacked one of mine. Unintentionally or not,” Ainz held his hand higher to stop her protests, “there is a way we do things here, in Nazarick. This situation isn’t private to just you and me. The Pleiades know about it, the Guardians know about it and, at this point, so does the rest of Nazarick.”

So that’s why the Guardians seemed colder than usual when they passed her in the hall. Even Demiurge, who Beans thought was starting to seem somewhat friendly, had given her that icy stare. Was it because of this? Another misunderstanding?

“What should I do, then?” Beans asked.

“I’ve already taken care of that.” Ainz’s eye lights flickered mischievously. “It was a stroke of brilliance on my part, if I do say so.”

“What?” Beans pressed, not liking that Ainz was playing around with this reveal of his.

“You will fight Cocytus. He has already agreed to it. Fighting you is part of his own punishment for failing with the army I leant to him, but it will also give you a chance to get to know each other. Since I believe you are telling the truth, you will still be working together at the lizardman village, and he is not the type to sit down in a cafe and chat over coffee. After we are done here, I am going to take you to the amphitheater to face him.”

That four-armed Guardian? She had to fight him? Beans felt herself relax. That didn’t seem so bad. Even with the frost magic pouring off the insect monster, she had plenty of spells to counter the effects, and her daedric armor had more enchantments and resistances that would help.

“As for your punishment,” Ainz’s eye lights flashed as he looked down at her, “you are not allowed to use any magic or weapons, and the only armor you may use is what you are currently wearing.”

Beans felt her jaw drop. “Punishment? Why am I being punished?”

“For your companions attacking Lupisregia and Carne. Unless,” Ainz’s head tilted slightly, “you would rather they take the punishment?”

“This is stupid!” Beans threw up her hands. “You agreed it was a misunderstanding! Why the hell should-”

“You want my help with Solitude, don’t you?” Ainz asked cooly, interrupting her tantrum before it could begin. “I told you that Nazarick does things a certain way; rewards and punishments are given as needed. If the Guardians do not see any retribution for your companion’s actions, they will be most displeased, and then even I can’t stop them if they decide to retaliate.”

“But, no magic? Or weapons?” Beans bleated, staring at her gloved hands. “Do you want me to die?”

Ainz chuckled at those words. “If I wanted a fight to the death, you would not be facing Cocytus, you would be facing me. No, this fight is not to the death, for either of you.”

“...and what if I accidentally kill Cocytus?”

Ainz’s skull slowly turned to the side, his black aura flaring like a bonfire. “Do you remember that promise you made to me, in Carne?”

Beans nodded her head. Ainz leaned in close, close enough that the bone of his nasal ridge just brushed hers and she could feet the heat of his breath from between his teeth. The red lights faded from his sockets and he growled, “ _ The next time I find out you have hurt someone I care about, we fight for real. _ You kill Cocytus, or anyone in Nazarick, and I’ll unleash my full might against you and everyone you care about.”

Beans stared into those dark sockets, determined not to let herself feel fear. After all, that was her promise to Ainz that he had repeated back to her. “So after the fight, if I win, you’ll help Solitude?”

“Perhaps. If you’ve kept to all the rules, I’ll consider it.” Ainz leaned back, the red lights flickering back into existence in his sockets, and took the floating staff back into his hand. He offered her one of his robed arms. “Now that this is all settled, I’ll teleport us to the amphitheater.”

Beans hesitated, thinking about her last lifeline. She had wanted to keep this information to herself, to argue later that it didn’t break any of Ainz’s rules, but she decided that she didn’t want to risk it. Not when all the lives of Solitude hung in the balance, including her own family’s. “What about Shouts? They’re not spells. Can I use them?”

Ainz hummed thoughtfully and examined her. “I suppose I’ll allow it. I’m curious to see what you’re capable of, after all.”

“What about the village?” Beans asked quickly, her heart in her throat. “Is.. is Sans okay? And Durnehviir? What happened to everyone else?”

“Hm… No one from the village died.” Ainz looked at his staff, twisting it around to catch the light in the jewels. “Lupisregina is alive as well, she’s the one that reported all this to me. As far as I know, your friend Sans disappeared inside the mouth of the dragon, and then it flew away.”

Beans felt her stomach drop. No, it couldn’t be true. Durnehviir was a good dragon, he wouldn’t  _ eat _ Sans! He was only supposed to give him a message and protect him. That couldn’t be true. Ainz, or Lupisregina, had to be lying.

“I-I have to go find him!” Beans felt her hands shaking. What if she had been wrong about Durnehviir? What if, like Ohdaviing, he had a different side to him, one that she didn’t see?

“I won’t stop you.” Ainz huffed. “But if you leave now, I won’t give your city any help.”

“A-and if I...?”

Ainz offered his arm once more to Beans. “If you stay, and do well, then I will help you look for your friend.”

Beans’ hands shook from her heart pulling her in two different directions. If she hurried, if she ended this fight quickly, she would have Ainz’s help with finding Sans. Once she found Sans… she could find out what happened with Durnehviir. If Ainz was lying... 

She took his offered arm and together they vanished from the throne room.

~~~

Elisif raised her head from one of the decorative vases that brightened up her throne room, spit hanging from her lips. Her face was pale, her knees shook, and as another vision of what she had just seen flashed before her eyes, she dry heaved into the vase.

“Tullius, how could you bring… such a sight…” Elisif’s voice shook as much as her knees. Falk rubbed her back, a handkerchief pressed to his own green face.

“Now do you believe me?” Tullius asked proudly, motioning for the two soldiers accompanying him to remove the barrel from the room. “The guards have already been informed.” He nodded to the men standing in the corners of the room. “I’ve been telling you all along that the elf can’t be trusted, Elisif.”

“This… has to be a mistake.” Elisif said weakly and collapsed into her throne. The weak winter morning light filtered in through the window and gently warmed her clammy skin. “Be’nseree is too kind to do such a thing. I don’t believe it.”

“You have proof right in front of you!” Tullius growled, gesturing at the barrel before it disappeared down the steps. “What more do you want?”

“I… I have to hear what Be’nseree has to say.” Elisif fanned her face with her hand, her gaze darting around the room. “When she comes back, we’ll call her here and listen to her side. I just can’t believe she would… she loved him. I could see it in her eyes. Someone else must have…”

“If we sit and wait for her to come to the palace, her undead will have invaded!” Tullus shouted, his face reddening. “We can’t afford to waste any time! With her power, she could easily destroy the city if we don’t start our plans now.”

“No, General, I refuse to use your methods.” Elisif said firmly, some of the color returning to her cheeks. “I have heard your concerns, but I am still High Queen and Jarl, and I will do things my way.”

“Queen of what? A dying city?” Tullius growled, his left eye twitching. “If you haven’t noticed, Elisif, Skyrim doesn’t exist anymore. All of Tamriel is gone! Because of that elf woman! What are you queen of now?”

“Dammit Tullius!” Elisif stood to match Tullius’ glare, even though she was several inches shorter. “While this city still stands, I will rule it my way!”

“And who gave you that power!?” Tullius hissed, his face slowly turning purple in his rage. “Who guards you with their men? Who put you on that throne and protected you from the stormcloaks and their rebellion? Who used their army to enforce your claim after your husband died? I did!”

Tullius paused and breathed deeply, restoring his face to a normal color. He strode towards Elisif, his arms behind his back in military style, a manic glint in his eye. She took a step back away from him, almost tripping over her own throne.

His voice was quiet, but thrummed with controlled anger. “I grow tired of listening to you, Elisif. My respect for the late king only stretches so far. I have warned you, I have brought you proof. I have done as much, if not more, for this city, for you, than that elf ever did. I’m sick of being shoved to the side so you can fawn over such a disgusting woman. Have you abandoned the Divines as well?”

“General, why don’t you step outside?” Falk offered, trying to keep his nerves out of his voice, but failing. “Get some fresh air and calm down…”

“No, I don’t think so.” Tullius’ face broke into a smile. It chilled Elisif and Falk to the bone. “Guards!” He barked. Both Elisif and Falk jumped at the noise. “Arrest Jarl Elisif and Falk under suspicion of Daedra worship.”

“Now, see here Tullius!” Elisif shook an angry finger at Tullius, even as the Solitude guards moved from their posts and pinned her arm behind her back. “I am the Jarl! You cannot arrest me!”

“Oh, I think I can. You seem to forget, Elisif, that these guards, all the guards, in fact; were once soldiers and thus are still my men.” Tullius nodded to the guards as they awaited his orders. “Take her and Falk to the dungeon to await trial. I suspect that they have been possessed by the Daedric Prince of Madness. Why else would they ignore evidence of murder? My only regret,” Tullius shook his head in mock sadness as he sat upon the throne, “is not acting upon my instincts sooner.”


End file.
